The Bruins' depleted defense is finally getting healthier.
After Jeremy Lauzon returned on Saturday from a fractured hand that kept him out a month, Brandon Carlo took an important step Monday towards his own return.
After skating a few times in a red non-contact jersey over the past week, Carlo hit the ice Monday in a regular practice jersey and took some contact for the first time since suffering a concussion when Washington's Tom Wilson hit him in the head back on March 5.
Fellow defenseman Kevan Miller, who hasn't played since Feb. 18 because of lingering issues in his surgically repaired knee, was also on the ice in a regular practice jersey.
Coach Bruce Cassidy didn't rule out either as a possibility to return for Tuesday's game against the Devils, although he did say he wasn't sure if Miller would be ready to be "in the mix" that quickly.
Cassidy noted that ideally both defensemen would get in a full practice or two before returning to game action, but that it might not be possible just because the Bruins aren't holding many full practices right now with how compact their schedule is.
"I think until we huddle up with the medical staff [we won't know], but yes it's encouraging they're interacting with other bodies flying around," Cassidy said. "Today won't be a heavy physical day out there, obviously, with limited numbers, but they are in every drill, so yes that's a positive. That's always the next step, you're in contact. Carlo had a red jersey on for a few days, now he's in a normal one. I guess it'll be feel from the player and the medical staff, whether they feel they're ready.
"The problem we run into is there's not a lot of practice time. You can't string together two good practices and say, 'Hey, heat of the battle, I'm ready.' They're going to be off in their timing simply because they missed a lot of game time, but the contact part of it just won't be there as much as maybe other years, when you can ease into it and get a few days' reps. I wish I had a better answer for you, but they're going to have to just go in and deal with that part of it simply because of the schedule handed to us."
Carlo had been third among Bruins defensemen in ice time before his injury, trailing only Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk. His return would be a big boost to the Bruins' second pairing, which has been forced to take on a number of different iterations in his absence, with Cassidy choosing to load up his top pairing by putting McAvoy and Grzelcyk together.
Cassidy said on Sunday that he'd probably continue to keep McAvoy and Grzelcyk together, but noted it could change based on matchups. Lauzon was playing with McAvoy earlier this season, while Carlo was with Grzelcyk.
Cassidy could go back to those pairing against more physical, heavier forechecking teams, something that wasn't an option while Carlo and Lauzon were out.
Carlo can also be a steady partner for a younger defenseman like Jakub Zboril or Connor Clifton, both of whom have been a bit inconsistent recently and could probably use a sturdy, dependable veteran next to them. Or Cassidy could even put Carlo and Lauzon together on a pair that would probably see a lot of tough defensive-zone minutes.
Regardless, the one thing that's clear is that the Bruins' defense -- and specifically, their top four -- is much better with Carlo in the lineup, and it looks like they are getting very close to having him back in it.
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In other Bruins injury news, Cassidy said that goalie Tuukka Rask is still not on the ice and remains out for Tuesday's game. He said he's hopeful they'll have Rask later in the week, but that he won't really know for sure until he's back in practice. Rask re-aggravated an upper-body injury on Thursday in his first game back after missing the previous two and a half weeks.
According to reporters on the scene, Sean Kuraly was on the ice skating on his own before practice, signaling that he is getting close to coming off the COVID-19 protocol list. Cassidy said he didn't expect Kuraly to be ready for Tuesday as he'll still need to get back up to speed.
There was no new word on Brad Marchand or Jake DeBrusk, who are also on the COVID protocol list. The NHL releases an updated list each day around 5 p.m.
