Ryan: The shorthanded Bruins are trying to tread water — but NHL’s do-nothing approach isn’t making things any easier

Crafting a column at this juncture of the Bruins season is a bit like charting a course down the Cape in the middle of July. 

Whichever route you take, it’s still going to suck.

Right off the top — now is not the time to harp on the silver linings out of a contest like Thursday’s 3-1 setback against the Islanders.

Yes, a shorthanded B’s roster forging ahead with just 11 forwards against the Islanders still managed to pepper Semyon Varlamov with 41 shots — but the B’s only managed to light the lamp with 54 seconds left in regulation, with Mike Reilly’s unassisted tally doing little to change Boston’s fortunes at UBS Arena. 

Rather than dwell on Boston’s impotent offense with Brad Marchand and Patrice Bergeron out of commission, what else can we shift our focus on?

Perhaps the dreary premonition that presents itself when youngsters like Jack Studnicka — finally handed a top-six role and plenty of reps — fail to make much of an impact in a contest where any and all offensive contributions were welcomed.

Still too dour? 

Well, is there any way this gets worse? Almost certainly. 

And considering the track record around the league when it comes to positive COVID results spreading like wildfire through a locker room — it sure seems like a given that the B’s will be even more shorthanded in the days ahead.

Even though the Bruins have augmented their travel plans in order to curb this outbreak — leaving Jeremy Swayman, Trent Frederic and Anton Blidh in Boston before flying down to New York on Thursday morning — Oskar Steen made the trek, only to get pulled from the lineup just 30 minutes ahead of puck drop.

"It's been a nightmare, to be honest with you," Nick Foligno relented after a game where the Bruins only had 17 skaters at their disposal.

So, is there any bit of relief on the horizon for the Bruins amid all of these woes?

At this point, the only agreeable avenue would be to shutter things down for at least a few days — keeping an anxious B’s roster out of Canada and the restrictive quarantine protocols in place north of the border.

It sure seems like a win-win situation for all involved. The Bruins are able to limit further outbreaks over this COVID-influenced sabbatical — and are allowed to drain time off the clock as they await the eventual return of Bergeron, Marchand and five other skaters currently mired in protocols.

And even though the Golden Knights and Islanders have had to trudge along and battle a Bruins team in the midst of a COVID firestorm over the past few days — Boston’s upcoming foe in the Canadiens are getting ahead of the narrative by expressing their displeasure of the B’s coming to town.

"I'm not really comfortable playing against a team that has so many cases of COVID," Jonathan Drouin said Thursday when discussing the possibility of facing the Bruins on Saturday. "There are currently seven cases, but there could be three more tomorrow. … "This is not what we were told with the vaccines for this year. I know things are changing. Like I said, it's not ideal." 

If common sense prevailed, the Bruins would likely be jetting back to Boston and laying low through the holidays — handed a clean slate to lick their wounds and avoid more games like Thursday, in which preseason finales have offered more thrills.

In all honesty, the Bruins probably shouldn’t have even taken to the ice on Thursday in the first place — especially after Steen was scrubbed from the lineup and the B’s had to suddenly roll out a shorthanded crew. 

But on a night in which just about all of the news revolving around the B’s was downright dreadful, perhaps the most disheartening nugget of information is that the sole reprieve that Boston can grasp will only become tangible if the NHL allows it.

And so far, it sure looks like the NHL could give a damn.

Even though the league has given the green light on a number of postponements over the last few weeks, there’s been a startling trend of inaction over the last few days despite more depth charts getting whittled away by this increased testing.

The Bruins are far from the only team in the league desperately trying to tread water— only for the NHL to twiddle their thumbs instead of tossing over a life preserver. 

While Elliotte Friedman reported that the NHL gave the Colorado Avalanche the option of not playing Thursday (late COVID protocol additions meant that the Avs took to the ice against Nashville with 11 forwards, five D and one NHL-level goalie), such courtesy was not extended to the Bruins (seven players in COVID protocol) or other clubs that were dealt late subtractions ahead of puck drop, such as the Panthers (five players in COVID protocol on Thursday). 

"I don't believe so. That's a question for Donny [Sweeney]," Bruce Cassidy said of whether the league asked the Bruins if they wanted to play on Thursday. "It was not discussed with me. I was assuming we were playing all along even with being down one guy. My guess is if there were a few more positives then that option probably would have been on the table. But to my knowledge, it wasn't on the table. We were here to play."

Even if the NHL opts to just forge ahead with profits outweighing common sense, one would think that the least the league could do is augment some of the fiscal constraints that have hampered clubs that are losing NHLers left and right. 

One of the primary reasons why the Bruins had to dress only 11 forwards — and John Moore had to get sent down to Providence in the first place — was in order to remain cap compliant.

Even though the NBA has been struck hard by COVID issues as well, they’ve at least offered ways for teams to replenish their roster in short order due to hardship exceptions and other avenues.

But so far, the NHL hasn’t offered much in terms of potential taxi squads or outright cap relief for teams like the Bruins — forcing clubs to pick up the pieces and solve the jigsaw puzzle spilling out in front of them. 

"I'm sure Donny called [the league]," Cassidy said of trying to receive some relief from the league. "Teams have played short one, so we were aware of that. If it was possible under the cap, we would have tried to get someone here. I think it was a cap issue. I'm not 100 percent sure on that, but I do believe that was the case.  "

“And then the conversation with the league was, 'Well, what if we get a couple more?' We had a staff member pop, but not other players, so then it becomes an issue of how many players can you play short. It worked out that no one else, to my knowledge anyway, tested positive."

Of course, as we’ve seen with each new day of this terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad week for the Bruins — a lot can change over the span of 24 hours.

It’s to be expected at this point that more players around the league will continue to test positive, perhaps forcing the NHL’s hand when it comes to finally pulling the plug on these upcoming games. 

The Bruins might be saying all of the right things when it comes to taking the lunch-pail approach to this latest strife, but one has to imagine that next to no one in that room is looking forward to the risks associated with a positive test up in Canada. 

“I think the best way to do it is just rolling with the punches,” Linus Ullmark said. “There's nothing — this is just out of our control. We do whatever we have to do. Everybody's following the protocols that's been handed to us from the league. So it's just unfortunate when this happens, but I can certainly say that we're doing our very best to not have it spread to more guys.”

The Bruins are doing their part to try and limit this outbreak. And even if the results on the ice are likely going to be BLEAK if this club must take to the ice in the coming days, it sure seems like Boston is prepared to accept that unenviable situation.

But at this point, the NHL needs to step in. 

Because be it the players themselves, the product on the ice or the growing number of cases — no one is coming out unscathed at this point in time.