Bruins Notebook: Zach Senyshyn earns his shot up with Boston; Rask dealing with lingering injury

Buckle up, Bruins fans — the future has finally arrived.

For the first time, the Bruins' three first-round selections from that infamous 2015 NHL Draft are set to take to the ice together in an NHL game, as Zach Senyshyn is expected to join Jake DeBrusk and Jakub Zboril in the lineup for Thursday's matchup against the Rangers at TD Garden.

Of course, even if the trio hasn't offered the same level of production as other noteworthy names from that fateful draft, the Bruins are still counting on all three to do what they can to try to help pull Boston out of this extended malaise, with Senyshyn looking to spark a revamped fourth line that has been largely ineffective for most of the 2021 campaign.

Senyshyn, who has tallied nine points (five goals, four assists) in 11 games with Providence this season, will skate in place of Chris Wagner, with Sean Kuraly slotting over to left wing and Jack Studnicka handed the keys to the center position.

Even though Boston's checking line under Bruce Cassidy has regularly been deployed with heavy D-zone starts (just 19.54% of Kuraly + Wagner's faceoffs have come in the offensive zone this season), the Bruins' head coach did note that the Kuraly-Studnicka-Senyshyn line may not be spending as much time defending in the B's end, with the playmaking potential of Studnicka opening the door for more scoring potential down the other end of the ice.

Even though Senyshyn will never be the 40-goal sniper he was during his days with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds down in the OHL, the 23-year-old winger has the tools to



succeed in a bottom-six role up at the NHL level, with most of the winger's offense generated off of his impressive north-south speed and improved ability on the forecheck. Being deployed as the F1 (the first man in on the forecheck to recover pucks) on that checking line could give Boston a much-needed shot in the arm, especially if those puck recoveries lead to more fruitful scoring chances with Studnicka in the middle.

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"I don't know that they'll play the same role, necessarily," Cassidy said of Boston's revamped fourth line. "We'll see how Senny does. He certainly played a good two-way game down there. He has killed some penalties, been on the power play, scored. So he's playing in all situations, which is good for his confidence. He's probably at the stage of his career where he should be doing that. And that's one of the reasons he's here  — is he's played well down there.

"So the message to him is basically do what you do best and do what you've been doing, which is being assertive — I understand he's taking pucks to the net — and he's getting shots to the net. Be effective, if you're F1 on the puck, create some uncomfortableness for the D and play good hockey away from the puck. So I don't want to get too much in his head, they play fairly similar to us. There's a few differences, we'll sort through those and give him his opportunity to play and then we'll see where it goes from there."

Even though the Bruins likely need outside help in order to give its second and third lines more scoring punch, Senyshyn getting a look on the fourth line makes plenty of sense. Not only was he excelling down in Providence, but he found some success up in the NHL level last season before going down with an injury. Last November, Senyshyn earned some reps on Charlie Coyle’s line, with Boston generating a 61.54% shot share and outscoring its opponents, 2-0, during the 16:22 of 5v5 ice time that Coyle and Senyshyn logged together.

Over the last few years, Senyshyn has seen other prospects leapfrog him up the depth chart, but Cassidy noted that the winger has not let his extended development timeline affect his mindset when it comes to fighting for a roster spot. Now, that opportunity is finally here. How long he stays up here is likely now in his hands.

"It doesn't help yourself to worry about things that you can't control," Cassidy said of Senyshyn's positive attitude. "Obviously, you leave here — you're probably going through different emotions. You're disappointed, you could be angry, but if you let it affect your game, you're probably not the guy coming back, right? I mean, there's other players down there that have been here. So he outperformed those guys, that's why he's here and there's an opportunity here where we are looking for better play out of our forward group. So he's going to get this opportunity and we'll see where it goes. But good on him, shows a maturity level when you're able to do that. It's good on the staff down there to get them to buy in that he will get an opportunity he plays well. And in both of those things have happened."

Rask still out

For the second straight game, Jaroslav Halak will get the start in net on Thursday against New York — with Tuukka Rask still sidelined after appearing to tweak something on Sunday against the Devils.

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While Cassidy isn't hitting the panic button quite yet, he did note that whatever is hampering Rask has lingered over the last few days. Rask did not practice on Thursday, with Dan Vladar serving as the B's backup for the time being.

"Tuukka, we thought it was something minor ... late in the game," Cassidy said. "But it's lingered. So not on the ice today. Can't really give you much of an update until he gets back on the ice. He was in this morning, feeling better, but not well enough to play tonight or practice. So we'll see where he's at tomorrow."

If Rask is not cleared by this weekend, we could have a situation in which either Vladar or even Jeremy Swayman might earn a start up in the NHL ranks, as Boston is scheduled to play a back-to-back slate with the Penguins on Monday and Tuesday down in Pittsburgh.

"If something were to happen to Halak, he's the guy," Cassidy said of Vladar. "If it were to linger for Tuukka, that's speculating. But you would look at Jaro on Saturday again and then if it lingered past that, we have a back-to-back, so someone would probably play next Monday or Tuesday. To me, it's Vladar or Swayman. Those are the guys that have been playing down in Providence and that would probably be a decision made by (Don Sweeney), who have seen them more, and (goalie coach) Bob Essensa and Jay (Leach) down there because obviously I haven't seen either, so they'd have to make that decision. "