With Ondrej Kase now facing a longer quarantine, a major vacancy in Bruins' lineup remains unsolved

If there was ever a Bruin player in need of Phase 3 workouts, it’d have to be Ondrej Kase, right?

Sure, there are players with much more mileage on their tires than that of the 24-year-old winger, but rust is far from the only concern when it comes to Kase’s ability to inject some scoring punch into Boston’s middle-six grouping.

Rather, reps might be the top priority for the speedy winger — something that Kase wasn’t granted with his new club after getting dealt by Anaheim back in February.

Following that Feb. 21 trade, Kase was held out of game action for a week due to a lingering injury, with the Czech product ultimately only appearing in six total games with Boston before COVID-19 scuttled the remainder of the NHL regular season.

With 10+ games wiped off the docket, the Bruins suddenly found themselves in a tough spot with regards to their deadline pickup — unable to determine where to best utilize the shot-first forward in their lineup if the Stanley Cup Playoffs were to resume. 

Phase 3 provided such an opportunity — even if the competition would come in the form of intrasquad scrimmages, rather than opposing clubs. At the very least, Boston’s two-week stint at Warrior Ice Arena would at least allow Kase an extended window to get re-acclimated with his teammates, while also giving Bruce Cassidy and his staff additional chances to see which pivot might best compliment Kase’s style of play.

Ultimately, Kase did manage to get on the ice in Brighton — but not for long. 

Saddled with the NHL’s new, wide-ranging “Unfit to Participate” designation, Kase only skated in one of Boston’s 13 total workouts during Phase 3 activity, with his lone appearance on July 15 coming at the tail end of an optional on-ice session. 

It was a complication that wasn’t totally unexpected given the risk involved with Phase 3 workouts and the ability for players to remain out and about away from the rink, but one that hopefully would have been resolved by the time Boston packed its bags and headed up north for Toronto.

But, in what has been a recurring trend, during Kase’s short tenure in Boston, things once again didn’t go according to plan. 



Even though David Pastrnak found himself in a similar boat as Kase during Phase 3 (limited to just one skate), the star winger's subsequent quarantine and negative tests met enough protocols necessary to allow him on the team's chartered flight to Toronto on Sunday evening.

But, when speaking to the media Monday morning via Zoom, Cassidy noted that Kase was not so fortunate — with the winger not allowed to fly with the rest of the club. Even with the pretty disheartening optics that come with missing the flight, Cassidy added that Kase "will meet us later" up in Toronto.

Even though the plan remains for Kase to rejoin the group at a later date, not getting clearance for that charter does put a winger already at a disadvantage into a much deeper hole — especially with round-robin games scheduled to begin on Sunday.

As we noted last week, even if Kase was to arrive in Toronto as early as Tuesday or Wednesday, there stands a good chance that he might not earn a look on the ice in a game setting until the final stages of the round-robin — at least when taking a glance at the requirements put in place for players and staff traveling up to Toronto outside of the charter flight.



As you can see, those individuals traveling commercially will be subject to a four-day quarantine in their hotel room until four negative COVID-19 tests are confirmed. Even after those requirements are met, these individuals might be able to “perform their essential work functions,” but must otherwise remain in their hotel room for another three days.

Given both these extensive requirements and Kase's lack of regular minutes next to either David Krejci or Charlie Coyle, the Bruins very well might have to plan for the round-robin tournament — if not the opening round of playoff action — without Kase penciled in as a top-six regular.

That's a brutal hit for a Bruins club that has been hampered by the lack of an established scoring winger to Krejci's right for years now.

Even though Kase's small sample size with Krejci back in February/March was largely underwhelming (outscored, 2-0, and outshot, 27-25, in 54:46 of 5v5 ice time together), there was still plenty of tantalizing potential that Kase's game could have brought to a middle-six grouping in desperate need of 5v5 production — most of which could have likely been harnessed with additional regular-season tuneups or Phase 3 sessions.

A smooth skater through the neutral zone, Kase impressed during his short time with Krejci when it came to carrying the puck into enemy ice — while his history of piling on shot attempts seemed to make him a natural fit on either Boston's second or third line. Over the previous two seasons, Kase ranked ninth overall in terms of individual shots per 60 minutes at 10.54 — ahead of Nathan MacKinnon (10.53), Patrice Bergeron (9.93) and Jack Eichel (9.93).

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There's considerable talent there, but it's unrealistic to expect that Boston will just drop a rusty Kase into the lineup against a team like Washington and expect him to start piling on points in a hurry. Kase very well could be playing catch-up through the second or third week of August, prompting Boston to scheme up a contingency plan in order to keep either the Krejci or Coyle line rolling.

Granted, this is an all-too familiar scenario for Cassidy and Co. Last season, Krejci and DeBrusk skated on 10 different line combinations that logged at least 10 minutes of 5v5 ice time last year, with a speedy youngster in Karson Kuhlman ending the carousel of RW candidates during the 2019 Stanley Cup Final.

This postseason, Cassidy has even more young skaters to turn to with Kase's status up in the year, whether it be Anders Bjork, Kuhlman or 21-year-old Jack Studnicka — who has been a regular next on Krejci's line over the last couple of practices. It remains to be seen if the Bruins' top prospect has the frame (175 pounds) to hold up over a grueling postseason slate, but there's no doubting the offensive potential and drive Studnicka has showcased through two weeks of on-ice work at Warrior.

"I think he's a very good player, very talented," Bergeron said of Studnicka. "He's a young guy that, it's pretty amazing, from seeing him in training camp to now? He's taken a huge step forward. Seems to be getting better. Got stronger also. His speed — it seems like he's getting faster, which is scary. So, a very good player. Smart, seems to play the right away."

Boston very well could roll with Studnicka in a top-six spot on Thursday and see how he fares through the first stages of the round-robin tournament, especially if Kase isn't cleared in such a quick turnaround. Ultimately, such a move, albeit unexpected, could prove fruitful if Studnicka runs with such a role.

Still, that's a lot of responsibilities falling on a 21-year-old player in Studnicka when it comes to jump starting a second line that has been stuck in neutral throughout the 2019-20 season. Regardless of the circumstances regarding Kase's absence, one has to think that the Bruins have to be a bit peeved with how things have worked out so far during Kase's time in Boston.

Yes, Kase might not have been given plenty of leeway to settle into his new surroundings at the time of the pause, but those woes could have been alleviated had he traveled back to Boston at an earlier time and passed the safety measures necessary to practice with a full Bruins roster.

Now, any chance for him to ease into such a vital role for this club has been all but squandered.