The NHL Department of Player Safety might be in position to drop the hammer on Mark Borowiecki, but any supplemental discipline in the wake of the defenseman’s elbow to the face of Urho Vaakanainen still doesn’t make things any easier for Bruce Cassidy and Co. as they attempt to piece together a bruised-up B’s blue line.
Borowiecki — who sat down with the NHL Department of Player Safety on Monday to discuss the lack of punishment on a boarding call against him over the weekend — will meet with George Parros and the league once again on Wednesday, this time to discuss the hit that landed Vaakanainen in the concussion protocol during Tuesday’s win at Canadian Tire Centre.
While skating towards the crease during a scrum in the first period, Vaakanainen caught an elbow from Borowiecki, who appeared to spot the 19-year-old defenseman skating in toward him before connecting with his face.
Vaakanainen only skated in 5:46 of TOI before leaving the game for good, missing the second and third periods of the eventual 4-1 win for the Black and Gold.
“They’ll look at it. It’s a flying elbow. For me, it’s — listen, I’m not in the heat of the battle. It looked fairly deliberate when he saw the player coming, but that’s not for me to decide,” Cassidy said. “It’s unfortunate for Urho, because he’s concussed, but at the end of the day, that will move up the food chain and someone will have to make a decision, whether it’s suspendable or not.”
Borowiecki is no stranger to discipline from the league office, earning a two-game suspension back in 2016 for boarding Kings forward
Tyler Toffoli.
Even if the Sens defenseman is forced to miss a game or two following the league’s ruling, it doesn’t do much for the Bruins, who are now without Vaakanainen, McAvoy, Miller and
Torey Krug
on defense.
UPDATE:
Already utilizing
Steven Kampfer
(who had a strong outing against the Senators) to fill in for an injured D-corps, the Bruins will likely have to dip into their reserves down in Providence once again to make up for Vaakanainen’s absence.
“I don’t believe Kevan Miller will be available Thursday,” Cassidy said. “Charlie, I don’t think either, from what I’m hearing. Krug skated, too soon for him. So we’ll have to look at Providence, who’s playing well down there and we’ll go from there.
Vaakanainen might be Boston’s blue-chip prospect on the blue line, but Boston’s AHL affiliate has plenty of options for Cassidy to pick from. Even with Providence’s slow start (2-4-1 through seven games), the P-Bruins have a few skaters on defense that Bruins fans should be familiar with, including 2015 first-rounder
Jakub Zboril
and
Jeremy Lauzon
.
Cody Goloubef
Goloubef, 28, has logged 129 games up in the NHL level during his six seasons with the Blue Jackets and Avalanche, posting 23 points and a minus-4 rating. A free-agent signing by the Bruins’ organization at the start of the summer, Goloubef earned a Bronze Medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics with Canada.
He may not be flashy, but Goloubef gives Boston a right-shot defenseman with some seasoning up in the NHL — a more than adequate stopgap with additional reinforcements likely right around the corner next week.
“Goloubef is a veteran guy there. He comes to mind and he’s a right shot, so it balances out the left and right,” Cassidy said. “We’ve played (
Matt Grzelcyk
) and (
John Moore
) together as lefties, so if it’s someone to play with Kampfer that’s a left stick, if it’s
Chris Breen
that’s played well or Zboril, Lauzon, whoever it happens to be, their job will be to come up, play 12-15 minutes on Thursday and do a good job.”
