By the time the Boston Bruins exited the postseason in early May after a Game Five loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference semifinals, they were in rough shape. Defensemen Brandon Carlo and Torey Krug had both already been lost to broken ankles, David Backes, Riley Nash, and Rick Nash were all dealing with concussion symptoms, Zdeno Chara and Jake DeBrusk had both been playing through shoulder injuries, and Brad Marchand and Noel Acciari were working with groin issues. Soon after, it was revealed that Patrice Bergeron had been dealing with a recurring groin injury all year. This did not come as much of a surprise, considering that Bergeron has missed the beginning of each of the past two seasons due to groin ailments. However, Bergeron finally decided to go under the knife and his early June surgery date and subsequent recovery put his health at the start of the 2018-19 season in some doubt. Between Bergeron and barrage of other Bruins injuries, it seemed like a long shot that the team would begin the new campaign at full health.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy says not to fear, as he expects his team to be ready to go not only be ready for the season opener, but also the start of training camp. Cassidy recently spoke with Matt Porter of the Boston Globe and reassured fans that everyone is doing well in their recoveries and on track to start the year at full strength. Gone are both Riley and Rick Nash, but the numerous other injured Bruins are in good shape. Porter writes that DeBrusk, Acciari, and Backes are fully recovered from their issues and doesn’t even make note of Chara and Marchand, as the two superstars appear to be more than ready for the season. Cassidy even went so far as to say that Carlo and Krug would definitely be ready for camp. Despite each suffering a severe injury, a broken ankle, Cassidy states that they are already back skating and working towards game readiness.
Cassidy went a little further in depth with Bergeron, who he certainly would like to avoid having miss any time to begin the season for a third straight year. Cassidy says that Bergeron’s recovery is going well and he at least expects him “in uniform” if not participating fully when training camp starts. Cassidy did cast some doubt over Bergeron’s preseason usage. Especially given that team opens their tuneup schedule ahead of the rest of the league with a two-game series with the Calgary Flames, there’s little reason to rush the two-way ace into action. Cassidy expects that Bergeron will miss some preseason action but trusts that the veteran will “play [as much] as he needs”. Regardless of the preaseason workload, Cassidy expects Bergeron – and the rest of the team – to be ready to go when they square off with the defending champion Washington Capitals in the season opener on October 3rd.