When Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo was ruled out for the remainder of Boston's Jan. 8 game in Colorado with an upper-body injury, everyone had the same thought: I hope it's not another concussion.
Unfortunately, it was. Carlo confirmed the diagnosis to reporters Saturday morning as he got ready to return to the Bruins' lineup for Saturday night's home game against the Montreal Canadiens.
It is the sixth documented concussion of Carlo's NHL career. His most recent one before this was in October 2022, when he missed four games. This one ultimately cost Carlo five games.
"I got a little concussion there in Colorado," Carlo said. "…Obviously, I've been through this before, so it's something that I take seriously. It's hard at times, because in the moment, you can start to feel really good, but you still have to pay attention to the little things, little symptoms that are still lingering. From there, I've got to focus also upon, with my history with concussions, just the future."
Carlo said this one happened on a "fluky" play, when he just ran into an inadvertent elbow. He said he got nauseous and threw up when he got back to the locker room, and was then diagnosed with the concussion.
Carlo believes he had been doing a better job of avoiding the kinds of big hits that led to some of his earlier concussions, which made this injury particularly unfortunate.
"I feel like even within my game, I haven't been taking as big of hits or putting myself in vulnerable positions," he said. "…I feel happy with where my game has been at, especially with taking hits and being a little bit more cognizant of riding guys into the wall, not creating that separation where it allows them to get those bigger hits on me. So, I feel like I've done a good job of that, but obviously, like I said, this one was just a little bit fluky."
Carlo understands the potential long-term effects of concussions and acknowledges that he has to think about his own future. He said he wouldn't be returning if he wasn't "fully confident" in his health and how he feels.
"It comes to a point where you have to focus on your brain health and the future as well," he said. "You're seeing it a lot more with guys, and it's a topic to be discussed with CTE and all of that in the future, and you definitely want to do everything you can to protect that. So, just making sure I feel 100 percent, as I do, and I'm ready to come back.
"…I wouldn't put myself in this position if I didn't feel fully confident to be out there and playing to the best of my abilities. So, I still feel very comfortable playing this game and enjoying it to the best of my ability, and it helps me recognize even more that each game, each day is a blessing. So, I'm just grateful to be here."
Carlo will actually be one of four Bruins returning from injury Saturday night. Derek Forbort, who has been out since Dec. 3 with a lower-body injury, will also be back on defense. Matt Poitras, who has missed the last four games with a shoulder injury, will return up front. And Linus Ullmark, who backed up Jeremy Swayman Thursday night but hasn't played since suffering a lower-body injury on Jan. 9, will get the start in net.
Carlo will need to be activated off regular injured reserve, while Forbort will be activated from long-term injured reserve. That will likely necessitate sending two players down to AHL Providence in order to remain cap-compliant. Coach Jim Montgomery told reporters at the Bruins' optional morning skate that he wasn't yet sure what those corresponding moves would be. Official word will come sometime before puck drop.
Montgomery did say that both Parker Wotherspoon and Mason Lohrei would draw out of the lineup on defense, while Oskar Steen would come out up front.
UPDATE: The Bruins announced Saturday afternoon that Lohrei and Johnny Beecher have been assigned to Providence in order to activate Carlo and Forbort. Lohrei and Beecher did not require waivers to be sent down, while others like Steen and Jakub Lauko would have.
