The Boston Bruins are on a roll, with Saturday’s 3-2 win over the Montreal Canadiens marking their eighth win in the last nine games. They are also very banged up.
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Those injury woes were only exacerbated on Saturday, as both Charlie McAvoy and Viktor Arvidsson left the game and did not return. McAvoy took a deflected slap shot straight to the mouth in one of the scarier-looking injuries you’ll see, while Arvidsson pulled up lame late in the third period as he chased down a loose puck.
There were some updates on those two and a couple other banged-up Bruins at Monday’s morning skate, as well as some accompanying roster moves.
Let’s start with McAvoy. Stating the obvious, Sturm said McAvoy won’t play Monday night against the Carolina Hurricanes. McAvoy was with doctors while his teammates were on the ice at Warrior Ice Arena, and Sturm said there is no timeline for him as of Monday morning. Sturm didn’t know yet if McAvoy would need surgery. At the very least, one look at a replay of the incident made it clear McAvoy would need some dental work.
Arvidsson, meanwhile, is considered “week-to-week” with a lower-body injury. The Bruins placed both Arvidsson and Casey Mittelstadt on injured reserve Monday, while also moving Jordan Harris to long-term injured reserve. Mittelstadt, who suffered a lower-body injury on Nov. 6, was already considered week-to-week. Harris suffered a fractured ankle on Oct. 21 and is expected to be out until at least late December.
There was at least one positive update Monday. Elias Lindholm skated with the team for the first time since suffering a lower-body injury on Oct. 30. He won’t play Monday night, but Sturm noted that he was “getting closer” and could potentially join the team on its upcoming four-game road trip, which begins Wednesday in Anaheim.
Speaking of the schedule, Sturm – echoing others around the league – does believe that the condensed schedule, a byproduct of the three-week Olympic break in February, is playing a role on the injury front.
“Yeah, absolutely,” Sturm said. “I guess we're not the only ones. If you look at Montreal, there's some teams that we saw with a bunch of injuries. Some teams, they're not. But it's hard. It's hard for my guys, for everyone in this league, for every player. You guys see it, too. To play again today, tomorrow we travel to California, I mean, that's crazy. That's why a lot of injuries will happen throughout the season. For us right now, unfortunately, a lot of good players are out. That's something, sometimes you gotta be lucky, too. But we feel very confident in the guys that are stepping in today.”
On defense, the guy stepping back into the lineup with McAvoy out will be Henri Jokiharju, who was a healthy scratch Saturday. Jokiharju was paired with Nikita Zadorov at morning skate. Hampus Lindholm and Andrew Peeke remained a pair, as did Mason Lohrei and Jonathan Aspirot. If McAvoy is going to miss more time, expect the Bruins to call up a seventh defenseman before flying out to California on Tuesday.
Up front, the Bruins recalled both Matej Blumel and Riley Tufte on Monday. Both are expected to play Monday night, with Blumel replacing Arvidsson on the second line and Tufte slotting in on the fourth line. Blumel, who led the AHL in goals last season, was one of the Bruins’ final cuts at the end of training camp. He has 13 points (2 goals, 11 assists) in 13 games for AHL Providence this season, good for third on the team.
Tufte leads the P-Bruins in goals with eight and is tied for the team lead in points with 16 in 13 games. The 6-foot-6 winger played six games in Boston last season, but did not register a point.
Blumel and Tufte are both expected to see some power-play time as well. Blumel skated on the top power-play unit at Monday’s morning skate, playing mostly on the right elbow. Tufte took up the net-front position on the second unit. Hampus Lindholm was quarterbacking the top unit in place of McAvoy.
Johnny Beecher, who has not played since Nov. 6, was not on the ice for Monday’s morning skate. Sturm acknowledged that there is likely a roster move coming there either Monday or Tuesday. That would seem to suggest that Beecher is going to be placed on waivers, a move that could happen as early as 2 p.m. Monday.
UPDATE: The Bruins did indeed waive Beecher Monday afternoon. The other 31 teams will now have a chance to claim the 2019 first-round pick. If none of them do before 2 p.m. Tuesday, the Bruins could send Beecher to Providence.