Game Day at TD Garden: Which Bruins will play?

Sep 26, 2013; Winnipeg, Manitoba, CAN; Boston Bruins defenceman Dougie Hamilton (27) swings at the puck during the first period at MTS Centre. Mandatory Credit: Bruce Fedyck-USA TODAY Sports

Carl Soderberg was picked to be the new player on the re-vamped line for the Boston Bruins. Unfortunately, the big Swedish lineman was sidelined with an injury during the preseason. In his absence, Jordan Caron has come up and done an impressive job for the Black and Gold. He has silenced many of his critics (me being one of them), and has finally earned a position on the roster.

The question is now: What happens when Soderberg gets healthy? Will Soderberg just go right back to the place he was supposed to be? Does Jordan Caron’s better than average performance get rewarded with a trip back to the land of the healthy scratch? Does the Bruins organization keep them both and said rookie Reilly Smith to the press box? There is a hard choice coming up for the Bruins organization, and it won’t be an easy one.

“We’ve got a pretty good player who is injured now and we’re going to have some tough decisions to make when the time comes,” Bruins head coach Claude Julien said after yesterday’s practice.

So what sort of timetable are the Bruins looking at with Soderberg? It’s pretty clear he won’t be playing tonight against the Avalanche. Do the Bruins have an idea when the Yeti will prowl the ice again. This time around, coach Julien offered a very ‘political’ answer to the media.

“Day to day is the best I can say right now. He’s skating, and when I say ‘day to day’,  he’s getting closer to practicing with us, and once he practices and I get the OK from the medical staff, we’ll move forward. Day to day doesn’t mean tomorrow, but he’s progressing extremely well.”

So it looks if Caron gets a few more games to make a case for his retention on the third line.

That covers the forwards, but what about the defensemen? Dougie Hamilton, Matt Bartkowski, and Torey Krug have been the young blood on the blueline for Boston. Krug and Hamilton have seen all the action to date, and Bartkowski has been up in the crow’s nest getting the bird’s eye view of the action. It only makes sense to get Bartkowski in action before the rust starts to settle in. The coach wasn’t clear on who was going to be on the ice, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see a really tall blond kid in a suit and tie up on the ninth level tonight watching the game. Not to diminish what Hamilton has done so far, but it would make sense for the organization to rotate the talent.