Bruins Have Benefit Of Familiarity With Latest Roster Addition

BOSTON — The Bruins had to make some more roster moves Saturday, as Milan Lucic’s foot injury necessitated a spot on long-term injured reserve and forced another shuffling of the deck for Boston.

The B’s will enter their weekend matchup against Detroit Red Wings with a plan, however.

Oskar Steen was recalled from Providence to fill Lucic’s spot on the roster, and the 25-year-old could get an extended look in the NHL. Lucic isn’t eligible to return until Nov. 1, while the Bruins sent forward Jesper Boqvist and Patrick Brown down to the AHL on Saturday so they could recall defensemen Mason Lohrei and Jakub Zboril.

That leaves Boston short a forward, while giving it an extra defenseman. That means more opportunity for Steen.

Steen, who has yet to play in the NHL this season, is no stranger to Boston. He’s appeared in 26 games across three seasons, mostly being used as an emergency replacement in situations much like these. He’s got seven points while mostly playing on the fourth line.

It’s likely the B’s opt to use all seven defensemen Saturday night, which could result in increased minutes for both Oskar Steen and fourth-line center Johnny Beecher. It would also set Mason Lohrei up to make his NHL debut, which likely wouldn’t happen unless Boston was comfortable with leaning on Steen. It’ll be interesting to see how Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery opts to deploy his skaters against the Red Wings, but there’s no doubt he’s comfortable with throwing Steen into the fire.

The Bruins and Red Wings are scheduled to drop the puck from TD Garden at 7 p.m. ET, and you can catch full coverage on NESN starting at 6 p.m.