Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said Jack Studnicka, and other young forwards, effectively need to pay their dues before playing somewhere on the top three lines.
Well, it looks like Studnicka will have a shot Wednesday when the Bruins take on the undefeated Florida Panthers at FLA Live Center.
“We’ll start there,” Cassidy told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. “We’ve got back-to-back games, so, I think balancing them out a little bit — (Tomas) Nosek, (Trent) Frederic and I think (Curtis) Lazar should be good to go. …
“We put (Studnicka) with Freddy and (Karson Kuhlman), it was his first call-up (against the Sharks.) Nosek was good in Buffalo against that group, so, we wanted to leave it alone,” Cassidy added. “At home you can control a little more, now we’re on the road. Two undefeated teams that we’re going to have to use everybody and trust everybody, so this I think gives us a chance to at least start that way if everyone’s on their game. We got some balance and we’ll go from there.”
Studnicka was recalled over the weekend after Nick Foligno and Anton Blidh both hit injured reserve. The young center had a strong camp before beginning the season in Providence. It only was a matter of time before Studnicka was called up, though it probably happened a bit sooner due to the injuries.
Still, it seemed Cassidy’s mind changed rather quickly after Studnicka spent Sunday’s 4-3 win over the San Jose Sharks centering the fourth line while Nosek was between Charlie Coyle and Taylor Hall. But against a tough Panthers team, putting players together who you know work well together makes sense.
Plus, if the Bruins really envision Studnicka as a top-nine forward, he’ll eventually need to get some looks at the second-line center position.
“Super excited,” Studnicka told reporters. “(Florida’s) off to a good start over there. Going to be a big challenge for us and I can’t wait to be a part of it.”
Puck drop is set for 7 p.m. ET on NESN.
