Healthy Roster Creating A Good Problem for B's
DeBrusk's return is fueling competition
Adam McQuaid is roughly a week away from a return from his broken fibula, while Jake DeBrusk appears poised to be back in the lineup against Arizona on Thursday night at TD Garden. DeBrusk's impending return means a personnel move is in store, with the Bruins roster currently at full capacity.
Not that Bruce Cassidy is necessarily complaining about some healthy competition.
"Now it's kind of a nice problem to have," Boston's bench boss said following practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Wednesday. "I've said it all along, the more good players you have to choose from, the easier it is for a coach. At the end of the day, it's not easy telling a player not to play - I don't enjoy that part of the game, I never have, especially the guys that are here working hard every day. But that's the business side.
"We're playing 20 guys every night and we're trying to put the 20 out there that deserve to play. More of them coming into the mix healthy I think is a good problem to have. These guys are good players in the league coming back to our lineup and they're gonna help us win."
The problem could solve itself with Ryan Spooner missing practice Wednesday with a lower-body injury. The forward is set to be re-evaluated Thursday morning, but if the injury is serious he could be placed on injured reserve to clear space for DeBrusk's activation. If Spooner is good to go, a more difficult decision will have to be made.
"We'll have to make the appropriate decision when we're at that number. That may come as early as tomorrow. Not trying to avoid it, but we don't have to make that decision today," said Cassidy. "When we do, we'll have an internal discussion about what makes us the best team and how we want to approach that."
Cassidy said he does not envision a circumstance in which winger Danton Heinen would be jettisoned back to Providence. The 22-year-old has impressed the coaching staff will his versatility and two-way game, which has made him a good fit in multiple spots up and down the lineup. Heinen is sixth on the team in scoring with 13 points (4 goals, 9 assists) this season.
"Those are discussions internally," said Cassidy. "I can't see Danton Heinen being sent down. He's playing very well for us. Every other option is probably available for us and we'd have to look at it, but I don't want to speak out of turn. With Heinen, I think he's played very well and deserves to be in the lineup."
During Wednesday's practice, the top of Boston's lineup looked very much like what Cassidy had envisioned earlier this season. The B's dynamic top trio of Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak remained together, while David Krejci centered rookies DeBrusk and Anders Bjork - a line that gelled quickly over the first two weeks of the season before Krejci was injured.
"It took a different path, I guess, and longer than [Cassidy] anticipated, but I think it made us a better team," Bergeron said of the team's injuries. "He's going to try some things that maybe he thought about doing in October but he couldn't do it. We'll see what happens going forward."
Despite having 14 players miss at least one game because of injury this season, Boston remains just a point out of the final playoff spot in the Atlantic Division. It's an admirable position to be in considering how ravaged the roster has been at times, coupled with the amount of youth the Bruins have integrated into the lineup.
"There were some ups and downs coming up to this point. We're on a good stretch right now; we obviously didn't like the result last game," said DeBrusk, who is a game-time decision for Thursday night against Arizona. "But our last little bit here we've been more healthy. We're right around that hunt with games in hand and we understand that, we understand that the opportunity is there.
"We're just trying to win every game and put ourselves in a good spot going into that Christmas break and continue building chemistry with everybody and getting better with each game."
That does not mean Boston is getting comfortable. The B's veteran core will make sure of that.
"Given the circumstances, we're doing all right," said David Backes. "I don't think we should always feel good about ourselves or feel like we've accomplished something maybe a quarter of the way or a third of the way through a long season. We've got to take it day by day.
"Enjoy the victories and the sacrifices we've had for those two points…that kind of mentality over 82 games puts you in a good spot."
NOTE: Torey Krug missed Wednesday's practice for a maintenance day, but Cassidy said the plan is for the blueliner to be available on Thursday night...Tuukka Rask will start in goal against Arizona.
