The Boston Bruins have done an admirable job coping with injuries to of key players, but it’s clear the absences are taking a toll.
Entering Thursday’s tilt with the Atlantic Division-leading Tampa Bay Lightning, the 14-9-4 Bruins are six points out of third place in the division, and five above dead last while owning the first wild-card spot. Players, particularly young ones, are being forced into roles they have yet to handle before and have had zero time to get acclimated. All the while, Boston is struggling mightily to get secondary scoring.
Because of those hurdles, should the Bruins pursue a trade?
Team president Cam Neely on Wednesday gave some insight into the Bruins brass’ current outlook.
“It’s a delicate balance,” Neely said, via The Boston Globe’s Matt Porter, “of seeing if there’s a bigger solution that’s not just a Band-Aid, and what does that look like, knowing these guys are coming back.
“We look at where we’re at, where we’d like to be, and our health is certainly an issue, but we recognize that,” Neely added. “If there’s something we can do, we’d like to do it, but we have to be cautious.”
Indeed, getting the likes of Patrice Bergeron, Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy back will provide a major boost, but in the meantime, the Bruins simply must figure out how to get wins with the players they do have available.
