Charlie McAvoy Out Vs. Wild; Bruins Call Up Urho Vaakanainen

Turns out, the pain Charlie McAvoy is dealing with has lingered.

McAvoy got a maintenance day Wednesday after blocking multiple shots in recent games. The expectation was he would play Thursday against the Minnesota Wild, but that won’t be the case.

“McAvoy will not play,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy said Thursday morning over Zoom. “He’s got a lingering issue from last weekend that he played through the other night. I don’t think it’s long-term, it’s not COVID, it’s lower body. Giving him an extra day will probably help and I would anticipate he will be back in Saturday.”

With McAvoy out, the Bruins called up Urho Vaakanainen on an emergency basis. It’s not entirely clear if the plan is to play him or not — presumably, he would go in for Connor Clifton and skate with Derek Forbort if they do decide to play him. Vaakanainen has been playing increasingly well with Providence, so it might not hurt to give him a look at the NHL level.

John Moore is expected to skate on the right side of a pairing with Matt Grzelcyk, Cassidy said.

Puck drop for Bruins-Wild is set for 7 p.m. ET.