Carlo: Wearing the 'A' Was 'Biggest Honor of My Life'

BOSTON - Brandon Carlo was not expecting what awaited him in his stall on Sunday afternoon at Lake Tahoe.
When the blue liner arrived for the Bruins outdoor tilt against the Philadelphia Flyers, his normal No. 25 jersey was hanging neatly at his locker. But there was one important feature added to the gold Reverse Retro sweater - other than that throwback bear logo - that caught him by surprise.
With David Krejci sidelined by injury, Carlo was chosen by Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy to don the 'A' as Boston's second alternate captain along with Brad Marchand.
"That was amazing," said Carlo. "That was probably the biggest honor of my life to walk in the locker room that day and see the 'A' on my sweater. It means so much to me that this group and management and everyone can trust me to take on that responsibility.
"It definitely warmed my heart and gave me an extra boost of confidence knowing that I'm contributing to this team in a leadership aspect."

Carlo is already in the midst of his fifth season with the Black & Gold, making him the second-longest tenured defenseman on the Bruins roster behind Kevan Miller (debuted in 2013-14). With the departures of his former partners Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug last offseason, the Colorado native - while just 24 years old - has taken on some added responsibility on the ice and in the dressing room, particularly of late with new partner Matt Grzelcyk battling through injuries that have limited him to just six games.
"Brandon we've asked to just play his game," said Cassidy. "Obviously, this year there's some younger guys on the left side so the guys a few years ago that were the pupils have to become a little bit more of the teacher type of mentality when they get with these younger guys in terms of prepared to play, expectations…Brandon's done that.
"He had Grizz early on…they're similar in where they are on their career path. That part was probably a little bit easier. I think they complemented each other."

Cassidy believes Carlo is part of an emerging group, including Grzelcyk, David Pastrnak, Charlie McAvoy, and Charlie Coyle, that is beginning to develop and take on a complementary leadership role behind Boston's longstanding veteran core of Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, and Kevan Miller.
"That's what you want, you want guys to grow from within and develop those leadership skills," said Cassidy. "Some of them have it naturally. Others need to be around other people and see how it's done. That's fine, whatever works. But we feel like Brandon's one of those guys and has earned it. He's young but he's been in the league and he conducts himself as a true pro very well. I think the guys all look up to him.
"I thought it was a good choice, but there is a handful of guys in that mix that we could have chosen from that are growing or evolving into that type of player with the leadership after you.
"We just happened to pick Brandon that day. And I thought he earned it. Going forward, we'll see how it plays out if the situation dictates again."
Carlo said he is looking forward to continuing to grow his mentorship role, while leaning on what he has learned from the Bruins' leadership group to this point in his career.
"We have had great mentors along the way," said Carlo. "We obviously had Zee and now Bergy; he's been fantastic this year with leading us along that path. I'm a sponge, I just want to soak in all that stuff and do my best to be a voice in the room and keep that respect."

On the Mend

There were some positive developments on the injury front for the Bruins, who went through an optional practice on Tuesday at Warrior Ice Arena. Jakub Zboril, who has missed the last two games with an upper-body injury, and Miller, who sat out Sunday's outdoor game at Lake Tahoe for load management, both took part in the skate and appear to be trending toward a return to game action. Zboril donned a maroon non-contact jersey.
"I believe if [Zboril] feels good in the morning he'll join our practice [on Wednesday] with no restrictions," said Cassidy. "Kevan Miller was out there as well so that was a good sign. I guess looking forward let's see who gets through [Wednesday's] practice, but obviously Zboril and Miller are trending better than the others."
The others include Grzelcyk and Krejci. Cassidy said that Grzelcyk, who has played in just six games this season because of various injuries, did hit the ice on his own before the optional with skating and skills coach Kim Brandvold. Krejci did not skate.

Taking the Option

In addition to Zboril and Miller, 15 other players took the ice for the optional skate in Brighton. Blue liners Charlie McAvoy, Connor Clifton, Steven Kampfer, and Urho Vaakanainen were on the ice, as were forwards Trent Frederic, Charlie Coyle, Craig Smith, Nick Ritchie, Anders Bjork, Jack Studnicka, Chris Wagner, Greg McKegg, and Karson Kuhlman. Jaroslav Halak and Callum Booth manned the pipes.
The Bruins will hold a full practice on Wednesday morning before traveling to Long Island for Thursday's tilt against the New York Islanders.