The Bruins will be a bit shorthanded heading into their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs on Saturday night. So does that mean Boston could turn to Providence to bring up a replacement?
As it stands, both David Krejci and Joakim Nordstrom will not travel with their team. And Patrice Bergeron is a game-time decision as he deals with an upper-body injury after blocking a shot in Thursday’s 4-3 shootout loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning.
Head coach Bruce Cassidy hinted at the possibility of bringing someone up from Providence to fill the void. But just who would that be?
Anders Bjork, who has been plagued with shoulder injuries over the past two seasons, certainly would be a viable candidate. The winger has performed well with the P-Bruins, amassing six points (three goals, three assists) in as many games. And Cassidy, for one, has taken notice.
“We wanted him to go down there and find his offensive game and he has,” Cassidy said, per Boston Sports Journal’s Conor Ryan. “Is it enough of a sample size to say that he is ready to play in the NHL? Until we bring him up, that’s a hard question to answer. We want to get a prolonged amount of time — whether that’s one month, 10 days, two months. Five games is probably a little bit of a short sample, but he’s certainly passing the test down there if we decided to go that route.”
Bjork could provide a scoring boost the secondary so badly needs. But only time will tell if his small sample size will be enough to earn a call-up this time around.
