BOSTON — It’s been a bit since we’ve seen Karson Kuhlman.
The Boston Bruins’ forward made the team out of camp after showing nice stretches during both the preseason and his few appearances during the 2018-19 campaign. But a cracked tibia just eight games in sidelined him for a while, then forced him back down to Providence.
But now he’s back.
The Bruins called up Kuhlman on Thursday after putting Brett Ritchie on waivers. Skating on the third line with Par Lindholm and Danton Heinen, Kuhlman made an immediate impact in the Bruins’ 4-1 win over the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In just 9:56 ice time, Kuhlman recorded a pair of assists, contributing helpers on both of the B’s first-period goals as they erased an early deficit. He was hard on the forecheck and useful on the power play while bringing his usual high motor.
“It was just great to be back, to be honest with you,” Kuhlman said. “My legs were there and my conditioning was there, so I was happy with where we were at, but just helping the team get a win tonight was awesome.”
While the 24-year-old wasn’t brought up to post eye-popping offensive numbers, he does have a decent offensive element to his game. And all night, regardless of what happened, he was trying to be mindful of keeping things simple and just helping his team.
“I think when I get back to the bench every shift just refocusing on what I can do to help this team win,” Kuhlman said. “My game is to get up and down the ice, win some puck battles and bring the puck to the net. So I think keeping it simple and doing that stuff is what I’ve got to do.”
There was curiosity if the Bruins would call up Trent Frederic to help bring some physicality, but they made the right move by going with Kuhlman. It’s long been clear that head coach Bruce Cassidy appreciates his style of play, and he reemphasized that following the win.
“What I like about Kuhlman is what I’ve always said, is that he can sit for stretches,” Cassidy said. “You know, you get into those power plays and he doesn’t get that many minutes, and his motor gets zero to sixty in a hurry. The bigger-body guys, they just naturally have a tougher time with that when they sit, it just tends to be the way it is. So, that’s one thing we’ve always liked about Kuhly — he can get up, get motor, get on pucks, get on defense, win some races. I mean, tonight he obviously chipped in a little bit of offense, good for him.
“We expect some level of offense and to get it right away is a nice win, it’s nice to have that production,” Cassidy added. “Drives the net on the (Sean) Kuraly goal — something else we’ve talked about, getting inside a little more. Big or small, we need that. Against good teams, you have to be able to do that. All in all, Kuhly, nice night for what he brings and we’re happy to have him back. He’s a nice player for us and tonight, this type of game against a speed team that wants to stretch you out a little bit with their defense and get the puck up ice — if you have a good forecheck, you can neutralize some of that, like Toronto. And he’s good at that, and he was good at that tonight.”
It has been almost three months since Kuhlman has played an NHL game. So now that he’s back, he’s relishing the opportunity to be with the big club.
“Lot of hard work (to get through the last few months),” Kuhlman said. “I think that was the first time missing substantial time in my career. So it was new territory for me, but I was pretty fortunate having everybody around me and a lot of support. So it was awesome being back.”
