UPDATE (12:45 p.m. ET): The Bruins have assigned Zac Rinaldo to Providence, according to the AHL’s transactions page.
ORIGINAL STORY: WILMINGTON, Mass. — Loui Eriksson was on the ice with his teammates Monday morning as the Boston Bruins began practice roughly four hours before the NHL trade deadline.
The 30-year-old winger has been the subject of extensive trade rumors, with Bruins general manager Don Sweeney saying Sunday that Eriksson and the team had yet to reach an agreement on a contract extension.
Two players were absent from practice: forwards Zac Rinaldo, who was placed on waivers Sunday, and Max Talbot. Talbot, who cleared waivers Sunday and was a healthy scratch for the Bruins’ 4-1 loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning, participated in pre-practice warmups at Ristuccia Arena but left the ice shortly before the session began.
The NHL’s Department of Player Safety announced Monday that Rinaldo will have a hearing Tuesday for the illegal check to the head he landed on Lightning center Cedric Paquette during the first period of Sunday’s loss. It will be a phone hearing, according to multiple reports, capping a potential suspension at five games.
Rinaldo has been suspended three times in his NHL career, with his most recent ban costing him eight games last January. The 25-year-old was summoned for a hearing earlier this season for a hit on Philadelphia Flyers center Sean Couturier but avoided supplemental discipline.
Bruins fourth-liner Tyler Randell participated in practice after being recalled Monday morning from the American Hockey League. Randell played in two games for Providence during a conditioning loan.
The NHL trade deadline is 3 p.m. ET Monday.
Thumbnail photo via Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports Images
