An already banged-up Bruins roster has taken another major hit.
Despite noting after Saturday’s preseason win over the Flyers that Taylor Hall was dealing with a “minor” injury, Jim Montgomery announced a much more disheartening diagnosis on Sunday over at Warrior Ice Arena.
“Taylor Hall is week to week, it's a little more significant — the upper body injury than we expected yesterday," Montgomery noted.
Hall ultimately logged just 8:13 of ice time against Philadelphia, exiting the game in the second period and not returning after taking a stick up high from Ronnie Attard. At the time, Montgomery expected both Hall and Fabian Lysell (who also left Saturday’s win due to injury) to miss only a few practices. But clearly, Hall’s ailment is more serious, which could put the high-octane winger’s availability for next week’s season opener in jeopardy.
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The Bruins are already missing a number of key cogs on their depth chart — with Matt Grzelcyk (shoulder) expected back in late October, while both Charlie McAvoy (shoulder) and Brad Marchand (hip) are slated to return about a month later.
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Considering the number of bottom-six candidates vying for limited starting minutes in this lineup, Montgomery should have a bevy of options when it comes to pushing wingers further up the depth chart during Hall’s absence.
But let’s face it. The Bruins might be a bit deeper up front when it comes to UFA arrivals like A.J. Greer and the emergence of younger options like Marc McLaughlin, but the Bruins don’t have any personnel that can replicate Hall’s playmaking ability and straight-line speed in the top-six unit.
For the time being, it seems as though Montgomery plans on replacing Hall with Pavel Zacha — giving Boston a true “Czeching” unit with Zacha, David Krejci and David Pastrnak.
"I am thinking about putting Pavel there,” Montgomery noted. “I mean, they come from the same school of thought with their upbringing. So let's see what it looks like.”
Zacha was solid, if not a bit understated, in his preseason debut on Saturday, with the 25-year-old winger’s positioning and board work contributing to some fruitful O-zone possessions.
Considering that Montgomery’s line of thinking when it came to slotting Zacha next to Patrice Bergeron was getting the forward rolling in an offensive-minded, top-six spot, he likely won’t protest a lineup reshuffle that will see him skating next to his fellow countrymen for the time being.
"I think they do,” Montgomery said of Czech skaters playing a similar style. “I know it's the same for Russians, the same for Swedes. Like there's a school they're brought up with — a style of play that makes it a little simpler for them to understand each other. It's not a language thing. It's more of the school or the way (they're) raised and the thought of hockey and boy, the schools they have and the way they play is consistent.
“My time in Russia when I went there, one of my last years playing, was simply to learn how they develop players because I had an eye on being a coach. And it's unreal how everybody plays the same way. So it's pretty easy for Russian players. And I've seen that it's the same way in the other European countries.”
A second line sans Hall will certainly lack some offensive punch, but Zacha-Krejci-Pastrnak can (and should) still inflict a good amount of damage, especially with heaps of O-zone starts.
Perhaps the biggest question then is … who exactly replaces Zacha on the “top” line next to Bergeron and Jake DeBrusk?
Montgomery acknowledged that Greer, Nick Foligno and Trent Frederic stand as the first couple of candidates for that coveted spot — with Greer likely the early leader in the clubhouse given both his skillset and strong preseason so far.
Again, we’ll need to see Greer continue to build off of his fantastic preseason showing against the Rangers last Tuesday, but the former BU product has the wheels and forechecking ability to create some havoc and assist two players who generate a whole lot of their offense in and around the slot in Bergeron and DeBrusk.
Perhaps giving a pair of struggling wingers in Foligno and Frederic a featured role on the top line stands as some incentive to get more out of their respective games, but when it comes to gauging the highest ceiling for this shorthanded top-six grouping … having either Frederic or Foligno in that equation doesn’t seem like the best fit.
One particular wild card could be Lysell, who will not play in Monday’s preseason game against New Jersey, but could be available for Wednesday’s road matchup against the Rangers. If Lysell — who Montgomery tabbed as the B’s best player on Saturday during the first 10 minutes of action — really flashes, perhaps Montgomery could slot DeBrusk back over to his usual spot at LW, and move Lysell over to the right side?
At this point, just about every option needs to be on the table, because the B’s are going to have their work cut out for them when it comes to accounting for the loss of yet another top-six stalwart.