BOSTON — Bruins defenseman Dennis Seidenberg has started to skate again, but B’s general manager Peter Chiarelli doesn’t expect the rugged blueliner to be returning any time soon.
Seidenberg has returned to the ice as part of his rehab for a torn ACL and MCL suffered on Dec. 27. That would seem to indicate that he and the Bruins might be pushing for him to make a return during the playoffs, but that’s still an unlikely scenario, Chiarelli said at a news conference Monday.
“We’re not counting on Dennis to be back,” Chiarelli said. “We’re going to be very cautious with his injury. He has been skating and that’s pretty much all I can say on it. It really hasn’t changed.”
However, Seidenberg’s return hasn’t been ruled out, at least not publicly. No one within the Bruins’ organization has said that Seidenberg won’t be back.
Chiarelli also addressed the status of another veteran defenseman — Adam McQuaid. The big D-man hasn’t played since Jan. 19 after being shut down with a quad injury. He, too, has started skating again, but there’s no timetable for an eventual return.
“Adam’s injury was, he was close to coming back, had a setback, was close to coming back, had a setback, so again, we want to be careful on it,” Chiarelli said. “It’s not a major injury; it’s a soft-tissue injury. We’ve been doing OK with the D we have, so we want to be cautious with it.”
The Boston GM wouldn’t comment on the status of Chris Kelly (back injury) or Daniel Paille who left Saturday’s game after taking a big hit.
