With defenseman Dennis Wideman sitting out Wednesday's practice, the Bruins may dip into the farm system to snag an extra defender for the upcoming two-game road trip to Dallas and Phoenix.
Although the B's have used Johnny Boychuck to fill in for the absent Wideman, Peter Chiarelli can look to the Providence Bruins with confidence as head coach Rob Murray claims there's a foursome of blue-liners worthy of a call-up.
"[Andy] Wozniewski would be a logical choice. Andrew Bodnarchuk and Adam McQuaid have played well," Murray told projo.com. "Drew Fata hasn't played as well as these guys, but he had a very good training camp in Boston. Obviously, Wozniewski is going to bring you a little more offense than Andrew or Adam. It could be any one of those four depending on what they need."
The 29-year-old Wozniewski leads the P-Bruins in points with one goal and six helpers to go with a plus-2 rating. Bodnarchuk, 21, has a pair of assists through the first four games while Fata and McQuaid each have one point. The 6-foot-3, 197-pound McQuaid leads the team in penalty minutes with 27.
Grabbing the extra skater might be a good idea for the struggling B's, who even switched up the forward lines on Wednesday as well, swapping wingers Michael Ryder and Milan Lucic. But will the decision be made to bring up a Providence defenseman?
"That's hard for me to answer because that's not necessarily my
decision," head coach Claude Julien told New England Hockey Journal. "Right
now, as we speak, no. Will that change tomorrow? Maybe. Those questions
are questions our GM answers more than I can answer at this stage."'
The decision on Wideman's availability has not been announced as of Wednesday night. Wideman missed Monday's loss to the Avalanche and has one goal and one assist in the B's first four contests.
"He's day to day," Julien said of Wideman. "We'll figure out [Thursday] if he is that much better, he's going to come on the trip with us. If we feel it's not progressing quick enough than we'll have to leave him back. It is a short-term injury. If he happens to miss the weekend, I would say as a betting man that would be the most."
