The shuffling on the blue line continues for the Black and Gold.
While Boston is set to regain its top playmaker on defense in Torey Krug for Tuesday's game against the Carolina Hurricanes, Bruce Cassidy noted after Monday’s morning skate at Warrior Ice Arena that Matt Grzelcyk is currently dealing with a lower-body injury.
Grzelcyk, who has tallied five assists and averaged 19:50 TOI while serving on the B’s top power-play unit, suffered the ailment during Saturday’s loss to Montreal and did not skate on Monday.
“Yesterday, he did not feel great,” Cassidy said of Grzelcyk. “Today, couldn’t practice. He’s doubtful for tomorrow. We have to see how he is. On the flip side, Torey Krug practiced full. When I left the ice, he was fine. I would expect for him to go in. So if Gryz is not (in), we might make a simple switch.
"If Gryz recovers well enough to play tomorrow, then we’d look at putting him in for, I guess you would say (Jeremy) Lauzon or (Steven) Kampfer. We have to decide what’s the best for our lineup."
The loss of a puck-mover in Grzelcyk is a hit for a banged-up Bruins’ defense, but the return of Krug should give Boston a boost. A major weapon on the man advantage, Krug should regain his usual spot at the point on Boston’s top power-play group — looking to help a unit that only cashed in one of its first 13 chances on the road to start the season.
“I don’t feel 100 percent,” Krug admitted. “I feel about as good as I possibly can for the circumstances that are dictated. Like I said, I’m going to feel this way, probably for a little bit now. It’s up to myself and the medical staff to continue to make sure that I feel comfortable enough to play. You just want to get out there and feel as good as you possibly can.”
While Krug is close to returning, the same can’t be said for
Charlie McAvoy,
who has yet to skate and is still dealing with an upper-body injury that has held him out of game action for over a week.
“No, he did not skate,” Cassidy said of McAvoy. “I don't have much further in news for him. Obviously not skating, he’s not going to play tomorrow. We know that. So I guess we keep pushing him down the road a little bit, for now.”
With McAvoy still out and Grzelcyk doubtful, Boston recalled Lauzon on an emergency basis from Providence. Lauzon has gone up and down I-95 over the past 24 hours, as he was sent back down to the AHL club on Sunday after playing two games with the Black and Gold. Center
Colby Cave
was another emergency call-up following Monday’s practice.
After taking a high hit from Oilers defenseman
Matt Benning
almost two weeks ago,
David Backes
was back out on the ice for Monday’s practice, with Cassidy noting that there’s a chance the veteran forward could be cleared for Saturday’s road tilt against the Nashville Predators.
“Skated a full contract practice today,” Cassidy said. “He will not play tomorrow. So Saturday would be the next target date for him. He’ll get a good three practices in before then, so that should help him get back up to speed. I think with David, we want to be sure, you don’t want to send him back in there until he’s 100 percent ready. So that will be a mutual decision between medical staff and player.”
BSJ Analysis
Even with a few shortcomings, the return of Krug should give Boston another weapon, especially on what should be a cheat code of a power play alongside
Patrice Bergeron
,
Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak
and
Ryan Donato.
It seems like Grzelcyk’s ailment isn’t serious enough to fret about a long-term absence, giving Boston a couple of skilled puck movers on the blue line. Lauzon was solid in his first two games with Boston and should be a suitable stopgap as Grzelcyk looks to get back on track.
The most intriguing news has to be the call-up of Cave, who skated in three games with the Bruins during the 2017-18 season. An undrafted free agent out of the Western Hockey League, Cave has primarily played the last four seasons with Providence — tallying 107 points over 232 career games.
Cave has been on a roll so far to start the 2018-19 season, leading the Baby Bruins with 10 points (five goals, five assists) over eight games.
As there were no other notable absences up front for the Bruins, Cave’s promotion might raise some questions as to where he might fit in the lineup. Keeping him as a 13th forward would clearly stunt his development, so perhaps he could get a few looks at third-line center.
He might not have the skill or fanfare as some other players down in Providence like
Trent Frederic
and
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson
, but it might be worth giving Cave a few reps to see what he can do. At this point, production-wise, that third line has nowhere to go but up.
