After the last team that the Bruins battled in the Calgary Flames went into a COVID-related shutdown on Monday morning, the writing was on the wall that Boston could be facing a roster crunch in the coming days.
Sure enough, those concerns were realized on Tuesday morning — with the Bruins announcing that forwards Brad Marchand and Craig Smith have entered into COVID-19 protocols.
Smith was placed in protocols ahead of Tuesday’s morning skate — but Marchand took part in the pre-game practice ahead of tonight’s game against the Vegas Golden Knights, further complicating matters as Boston looks to avoid a full-fledged outbreak.
Due to the NHL’s COVID protocol, Marchand and Smith must quarantine for 10 days from the start of symptoms — which would rule them out for at least six games. They would be eligible to return on Dec. 27 for a home game against the Penguins.
With Marchand out, the logical move will be Taylor Hall getting bumped up to the top line for the time being — with the Hall-Bergeron-Pastrnak line generating a 66.04% shot share at 5v5 play over 44:34 of 5v5 ice time together this season.
Jake DeBrusk will likely slot in at Hall’s old spot on the second line next to Charlie Coyle — while it remains to be seen who will snag Smith’s spot at 2RW, with Nick Foligno standing as a possible in-house candidate. Options down in Providence include Oskar Steen and Jesper Froden. At this point, it sure seems like DeBrusk isn’t getting his Christmas wish of getting dealt to a new club any time soon.
The Bruins had a COVID-related scare on Monday, with Linus Ullmark, Connor Clifton and John Moore all missing Monday’s practice due to “testing issues.” However, all three returned to practice on Tuesday without any issues.
However, with an additional three Calgary Flames players entering COVID-19 protocols on Tuesday (making it nine total players in the span of two days) — the Bruins will be moving forward with bated breath in hopes that more complications don’t arise.
Of course, that might be wishful thinking. Not only did the Flames announce more COVID-related absences on Tuesday, but the Islanders (Mathew Barzal), Avalanche (Devon Toews) and Canucks (a yet-to-be-determined player) are also placing more players on the shelf.
Have to say, I wouldn’t be all too thrilled if I were the Golden Knights and had to play tonight’s game — given the clear domino effect being established between the Flames and Bruins, coupled with Marchand taking part in Tuesday’s morning skate.
Not great, to say the least.
“Now you see what happens with Calgary right? They're shut down," Bruce Cassidy said on Monday. "So are there any after-effects for our guys because we just played there? And we hope not — in the long run. So it is tough, but it's the way the world is now. And you got to battle through it.”
