David Krejci continues to make progress in his recovery from a lower-body injury, but it’s no sure thing he plays Thursday night in Dallas.
It was announced Wednesday that the Bruins’ second-line center will be a game-time decision for opening night against the Stars. He was a full participant in practice Wednesday after skating in a red non-contact jersey one day prior. The 33-year-old sustained the injury last Monday early in a preseason game when he fell awkwardly, but major concerned was not expressed over the ailment in the days that followed.
So, what happens if Krejci is unable to go Thursday and possibly beyond? Given the way Boston’s roster stands, it should have the depth to accommodate his absence without having to make a roster move. And there are two likely solutions.
Option No. 1 would be to move up Charlie Coyle. The drawback here is it weakens the bottom six. Coyle is good as a second-line center, but he’s great when used on the third line. While bumping him up would result in little drop-off from Krejci, the problem then becomes that the third — and possibly fourth — line would take a noticeable step back. Given David Backes is a bit of a wild card and Danton Heinen can’t be relied on to provide offense, the Bruins would more or less be putting all their hope in the top six providing the scoring. Such thinking prompted them to acquire Coyle and Marcus Johansson at the trade deadline last season.
If that did end up being the decision, the forward lines would look something like this.
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–Charlie Coyle–Karson Kuhlman
Danton Heinen–Par Lindholm–David Backes
Chris Wagner–Sean Kuraly–Brett Ritchie
You’ll notice Lindholm makes an appearance, which brings us to option No. 2: Lindholm skates as the second-line center.
Lindholm saw time in practice as the second-line center between Kuhlman and DeBrusk with Krejci out, but he likely will be the fourth-line right wing or a healthy scratch if Krejci plays. He showed a good bit of promise in the preseason and is more than capable of centering a line. Putting him there makes the second-line a gamble of sorts, but it allows Coyle to continue anchoring the third line, so the depth of the forwards as a whole arguably is better.
Here’s how that would look:
Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–David Pastrnak
Jake DeBrusk–Par Lindholm–Karson Kuhlman
Danton Heinen–Charlie Coyle–David Backes
Chris Wagner–Sean Kuraly–Brett Ritchie
All of this is to say Krejci’s absence is an important one, and it’s not a void that easily will be filled if such a reality presents itself. The Bruins have the personnel where they will by no means fall off, but not having Krejci definitely will hurt,
