For Boston Bruins fans, the wait is over as the locals played their first game of the regular season last night (Wednesday) versus the Washington Capitals. The Bruins were without the services of defenseman Charlie McAvoy and forward Brad Marchand. The Capitals were also missing a trio of important players, including center Nicklas Backstrom, who, like Marchand, is recovering from offseason hip surgery, and was joined by forwards Tom Wilson (knee) and Carl Hagelin (hip). The trade of Pavel Zacha (drafted at number six overall in the 2015 NHL Draft) for Erik Haula, might pick up some of the slack for Boston in Wednesday’s matchup, along with the return of David Krejci to the lineup, these could be promising signs for the start of the 2022-23 regular season.
Some positive news was the waiver clearance of the Nick Foligno, Jakub Lauko and Mike Reilly, as the three were on the trip to Washington for Wednesday’s game. The fourth Bruin waived, Walpole’s Chris Wagner also cleared, but was assigned to Providence. The addition of Lauko and Jack Studnicka to the roster was a factor in that decision. The likeable Wagner once again handled his demotion to the American Hockey League as a pro, and will probably earn another call-up to Boston again in the future. With those roster moves in place, Boston’s opening night roster included, Patrice Bergeron, Brandon Carlo, Connor Clifton, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Nick Foligno, Derek Forbort, Trent Frederic, A.J. Greer, Matt Grzelcyk, Taylor Hall, David Krejci, Jakub Lauko, Hampus Lindholm, Tomas Nosek, David Pastrnak, Mike Reilly, Craig Smith, Anton Stralman, Jack Studnicka, Jeremy Swayman, Linus Ullmark, Pavel Zacha, Jakub Zboril.
At Monday’s Media Day presser, Marchand explained, “I’m ready but there’s still a process that you’ve got to follow to get back. Just trying to take it day by day and make sure there are no setbacks and nothing that holds me back from getting back when I want to. I don’t want to be definitive in what the timetable is, just try to see how I feel. I haven’t dealt with anything like this before where I feel really good, but I still have to be careful with where I’m at, with my surgeries before, once I feel good, I can go. But it’s not quite like that with this one. I’ve just got to be careful.” Marchand has been back on the ice for a couple of weeks but his progress has been very deliberate while working with the club’s medical staff to make sure that he doesn’t push it too much and jeopardize his recovery. He finished his comments via “We’re trying not to do too many stops and cutbacks.” All good according to his thought process, it now is left to the healing process. McAvoy was totally positive in his recovery efforts, while praising the Bruins training staff and team doctors. Taylor Hall is very close, as he stated earlier, “I feel good, and ready to play on Wednesday.” Defenseman Matt Grzelcyk was also close, and is expected to return to the Boston lineup soon. The plus side on all the injury situations will be the uplift the team is expected to feel when each of these key players return to play. Just before Wednesday’s game with the Capitals Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announce that the team had signed defenseman Anton Stralman to a one-year contract through the 2022-23 seasons. The veteran Stralman has 930 NHL career games with Arizona, Florida, Tampa Bay, NY Rangers, Columbus and Toronto. Coach Montgomery also added AJ Greer and Jakub Lauko to the season-opening roster. Coach indicated that Greer might be used on the third line with Craig Smith and Charlie Coyle. At press time no starting goalie decision had been announced to face the Capitals.
The Bruins home opener versus the Arizona Coyotes will set the pace, on Saturday (October 15 at 7:00pm), when they begin a stretch that will have the Bruins playing six of their next seven games on Garden ice. The home stand will continue with the Bs hosting the Florida Panthers on Monday, (October 17 at 7:00pm), interrupting their stay at home with a brief trip to face the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday, (October 18 at 7:00pm), before returning to TD Garden ice on Thursday (October 20 at 7:00pm) to take on the Anaheim Ducks.