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Erik Gudbranson Suspended One Game

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The Department of Player Safety has handed out another suspension, this time to Erik Gudbranson of the Vancouver Canucks. Gudbranson has been given a one-game ban for hitting Frank Vatrano from behind last night. The Boston Bruins’ forward would initially leave the game, but would find his way back to the bench later on. Gudbranson was immediately confronted by Tim Schaller in a fight, but would also be given a five minute major for boarding. Boston would get some measure of revenge by scoring three times during the ensuing powerplay, but the league has issued even more punishment.

As the video explanation states:

From the moment Vatrano gains possession of the puck behind the net, Gudbranson sees nothing but Vatrano’s numbers. While Vatrano shifts slightly as he attempts to move the puck to his teammate, he makes no sudden movements just prior to contact that turn this from a legal hit into an illegal one.

Gudbranson has never been suspended by the DoPS before, but has toed the line of legality quite a few times. He’s previously been involved in borderline hits, and was reported to have yelled threats towards Matt Martin after an incident in Toronto last year. Still, having no recorded history of discipline helped him keep the suspension to just one game. Going forward he’ll have to exercise a bit more caution, or else face stiffer penalties.

Adam McQuaid To Undergo Surgery On Broken Fibula

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The Boston Bruins announced some bad injury news today, as Adam McQuaid has suffered a broken right fibula and will require surgery. The defenseman will have the surgery on Monday, and is out for approximately eight weeks. McQuaid broke the lower leg bone on Thursday night against Vancouver.

Losing McQuaid will put even more strain on a defense corps that is already relying on youngsters Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy. While he’s by no means an offensive dynamo, McQuaid has provided reasonably effective minutes for the team since entering the league in 2009-10. Without him, the team will likely have to turn to Paul Postma, who was signed this summer as a depth piece.

The team does have other young defensive prospects in Jakub Zboril, Matt Grzelcyk and Jeremy Lauzon, but inserting another rookie into the lineup on a full-time basis would be a tough ask. That said, Postma himself has a spotty record in the NHL during his career, and only really became a full-time option last season when he played 65 games for the Winnipeg Jets. The 28-year old has 191 games under his belt, but likely couldn’t take on big minutes on a nightly basis.

The Bruins evened up their record at 3-3 yesterday with a win over the Canucks, welcoming both Patrice Bergeron and David Backes back into the lineup. Bergeron made an immediate impact with four points, but the team is still dealing with injuries throughout their lineup. Ryan Spooner and Tuukka Rask are both out, and with McQuaid joining them the team’s depth at important positions will be tested.

Tuukka Rask Diagnosed With Concussion

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As many had feared, Boston Bruins goaltender Tuukka Rask has been diagnosed with a concussion and will follow the league’s protocols before getting back on the ice. The injury happened in practice when Anders Bjork crashed into the goaltender. Anton Khudobin will take the Bruins net tonight with Zane McIntyre on the bench backing him up.

Tuukka RaskRask has dealt with minor injuries over the last few years but has still been able to start at least 64 games for the Bruins in each of the last three seasons. The clear number one in town, the 30-year old won the Vezina Trophy as the league’s best netminder in 2014 and has been one of the league’s most consistent for some time. In the summer of 2013, he signed an eight-year, $56MM contract which tied him with Pekka Rinne at the time for the league’s highest-paid goaltender.

While it’s unclear when Rask will return, his play this season hadn’t been up to his high standards. In four starts he had allowed 12 goals on 102 shots for an .882 save percentage, leading his team to a 1-3 record. Unfortunately for the Bruins and Rask, he’ll have to wait at least a few days to try and right those numbers. While the concussion protocol varies widely, Khudobin will likely have the net for tonight and Saturday. The team then doesn’t play until Thursday, a nice bit of scheduling as they also look to get Patrice Bergeron back into the lineup.

Speculating on the effect of concussions is a fool’s errand, as players react in a wide spectrum after sustaining head injuries. Rask was pulled from a game last year after taking a puck to the neck against the Nashville Predators, but passed the tests and played two days later. It will be important to watch when he returns to practice, and how he feels the next day.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Boston Bruins Make Three Transactions

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The Boston Bruins have completed three injury-related transactions, moving Ryan Spooner to injured reserve, activating David Backes and recalling goaltender Zane McIntyre to serve as backup in tonight’s game. Tuukka Rask, injured at practice yesterday will not dress for the Bruins when they take on the Vancouver Canucks.

Backes’ activation means that the veteran forward will make his season debut tonight after dealing with a bout of diverticulitis to start the year. His return will be a handy one for the Bruins, who have been leaning more and more on their young players recently. Patrice Bergeron, also close to a return is apparently a game-time decision but seems unlikely to play.

Rask’s injury has not been updated, but McIntyre will be on the end of the bench tonight as Anton Khudobin gets his second start of the year. Khudobin has stopped 38 of 40 shots in his two appearances this year, and may have to carry the load for at least a few games. The 27-year old has done it before, and actually has a .917 save percentage during his two separate stints in Boston.

If Khudobin falters McIntyre does actually have eight games of NHL experience, all of which came last season. The 25-year old has posted strong numbers in college and the minor leagues, but only posted a save percentage above .900 in one of his eight appearances. In the three games he started, he allowed 12 goals on 84 shots. Sufficed to say, the Bruins will cross their fingers that Rask’s injury is minor.

Early Notes: Carter, Rask, Cehlarik

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The Los Angeles Kings were already thin on scoring, relying on their top names to carry most of the load this season. Then, last night against the Montreal Canadiens Jeff Carter absorbed a hit from Jeff Petry and will be out “a little while” according to Jon Rosen of LA Kings Insider. Bob McKenzie of TSN believes that means “multiple weeks”

Carter was cut by a skate blade in the collision, a fluke injury that will really hurt the Kings. Los Angeles is off to a great 5-0-1 record, extending their smooth start with a 5-1 blowout of the Canadiens last night. The team finally received some secondary scoring, as Adrian Kempe and Mike Cammalleri both broke out for four-point nights. Prior to last night neither player had any points, but stepped up in a fashion the team desperately needed.

Ryan Spooner Out Four To Six Weeks With Groin Injury

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The Boston Bruins will be without another veteran forward for quite some time, as the team announced today that Ryan Spooner will be out for four to six weeks with a right groin adductor tear. The team already called up Kenny Agostino and Peter Cehlarik earlier today, and David Backes and Patrice Bergeron are on the cusp of returning to the lineup.

Ryan SpoonerStill, losing a player like Spooner for this long is never a good thing. Groin injuries are notorious for lingering, and the 25-year old was already struggling to make an impact in the early going. He’s been the subject of much ire from Bruins fans for the past few seasons, who see an extremely talented offensive player who has trouble performing on a consistent basis. Losing a chunk of the season early on will do nothing to assuage that frustration.

The Bruins, already relying on several rookies in their lineup, will have plenty of opportunity for young players to make an impact. Spooner’s best role was on the powerplay, where the team will likely have to get creative in the face of his injury. Agostino is obviously a potential piece for the man advantage, as his offensive ability has shown in the minor leagues.

In a year that was supposed to be a launch pad for a long-term contract, Spooner now will miss at least a dozen games and likely come back with a bit of rust. With just one point in his first five, this could turn into a disastrous negotiation point for the Bruins in arbitration next summer. The forward is earning $2.83MM this season, and is set to become an unrestricted free agent in the summer of 2019.

Photo courtesy of USA Today Sports Images

Boston Bruins Recall Agostino, Cehlarik From AHL

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The Boston Bruins have recalled Kenny Agostino and Peter Cehlarik from the AHL ahead of their match with the Vancouver Canucks tomorrow night. The Bruins had previously sent down Danton Heinen and Austin Czarnik after Patrice Bergeron and David Backes had returned to practice, but now it seems like that could have just been a straight swap.

The Bruins are looking for an offensive jump, and Agostino definitely provides that. Last year’s AHL MVP, the 25-year old has seven points in three games for the Providence Bruins after registering 83 a year ago. Though he’s not a complete player by any means, there is no doubt that he can create scoring chances for himself and his linemates, something Boston has struggled with outside of their top players. Ryan Spooner, perhaps the poster boy for under-performing Bruins over the last while, has now missed back-to-back practices after leaving Sunday’s game against the Golden Knights. He had just one point in the first five games, and was limited to just four shots on goal.

While Bergeron and Backes are back at practice, neither are a guarantee to make the roster tomorrow night. Each of them would have to be activated from injured reserve, which would now require another corresponding move. Spooner could go on IR himself, or another player could be sent to the P-Bruins. Interestingly, now that Agostino is up with the club he seems to be set to stick for a while. He is waiver-eligible, and would be at risk of claim by another team in the league should the Bruins decide to send him back down. Cehlarik, Sean Kuraly, Anders Bjork and Jake Debrusk can all be sent down without being exposed.

Boston Bruins Send Czarnik, Heinen To AHL

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The Boston Bruins are getting healthier, and because of it they needed to make room on their NHL roster. With that, they’ve sent both Austin Czarnik and Danton Heinen back to Providence of the AHL. The Bruins don’t play again until Thursday, but had both Patrice Bergeron and David Backes back on the ice at this morning’s practice according to Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe.

While it is certainly possible that the team could bring one of them back up for Thursday, it doesn’t seem probable right now. The P-Bruins don’t play until Friday, meaning this isn’t just to get them into the lineup in the time being. Instead, it likely means that Frank Vatrano has earned a spot on the fourth line for now. Ryan Spooner also wasn’t at practice today after suffering a lower-body injury against the Vegas Golden Knights.

Heinen in particular had been impressive in the early going, recording three points in three games. The 22-year old had a solid season as an AHL rookie last year, and is looking to follow that up with a jump to the NHL. He’ll have to wait for now, but if the rest of the Bruins bottom-six don’t start performing it may not be for long.

Bruins Hoping Bergeron May Be Ready To Play Thursday

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  • Although he wasn’t able to suit up today against Vegas, Bruins center Patrice Bergeron is making progress and could be available on Thursday versus Vancouver, the team noted on Twitter. Bergeron has yet to play this season due to a lower-body injury that was sustained late in the preseason.

Bruins Hoping To Re-Sign Zdeno Chara

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While Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman was putting together an article about Boston Bruins captain Zdeno Chara late last night, the big man was busy scoring two goals as the Bruins rolled the Arizona Coyotes 6-2. Friedman’s report and Chara’s game prove the same point: the 40-year-old is far from done.

Friedman reveals that Boston GM Don Sweeney has received trade inquires about Chara, and it is thought that some teams have been considering acquiring the Norris Trophy-winner since as far back as the 2017 Trade Deadline. However, with his play continuing to hold steady as he enters his 20th NHL season, Sweeney has had no interest in moving Chara. Instead, Friedman reports that the team would prefer to re-sign him and Chara has been candid that he would like to continue his career with Boston.

Part of the reason for the uptick in interest in Chara is also why the Bruins would like to keep him this year and re-sign him: they have already extended this contract once to cover the 2017-18 season, during which Chara will count for just $4MM against the cap. That is a far cry from the $7.5MM-$6.9MM that Chara has made each year since originally signing in Boston in 2006. For the first time in a few years, Chara is in fact an excellent value this season. If, going forward, Sweeney can keep his captain at that lower number, he could continue to be a bargain asset into his 40’s.

At 6’9″, 250-lbs, Chara may not have the longevity of a Jaromir Jagr. However, the role that he is being asked to play in Boston is one that he can maintain for at least a couple more years. Chara has lost a step in his skating no question and he could benefit from playing fewer minutes, as he has tended to tail off in individual games and toward the end of the season. Yet, Chara is still one of the best checkers in the game – maybe one of the best all-time – and his shot has hardly lost its record-setting power, as evidenced last night. However, the most important role that the Slovakian superstar plays for a Bruins team getting younger with each year is captain. The Bruins are loaded with leadership and experience, as Patrice Bergeron and David Backes would be the captains of nearly any other team in the league, but Chara’s mentoring on the blue line is invaluable. Brandon Carlo, Chara’s defensive partner for the last year plus, is developing into a top-notch shutdown defender in his own right and with Charlie McAvoy now in town and the likes of Jakub Zboril, Jeremy Lauzon, Urho Vaakanainen and (especially) Ryan Lindgren on their way, the Bruins have one of the best teachers possible to help develop a new generation of defenseman, while still playing a meaningful role.

Since signing with Boston in 2006, among all defenseman Chara is seventh in scoring, seventh in hits, fifth in time on ice, second only to Shea Weber in power play goals, and second only to Duncan Keith in +/-. Not only has he been great, but the future Hall of Famer has become one of the most recognizable names in hockey. Luckily for fans, not just in Boston but across the planet, it doesn’t seem as if we’re seeing the last of Chara. The big man still has gas left in the tank.

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