Boston Bruins: Will everyone be fighting fit ahead of the Stanley Cup Final?

The Boston Bruins have struggled immensely at times due to injuries, yet have still managed to make their way to the Stanley Cup Final.

All up, the Boston Bruins lost a total of 242 man games to injury in the regular season, including lengthy spells on the sidelines for the likes of defensemen Charlie McAvoy, Zdeno Chara and Kevan Miller.

Ahead of the Stanley Cup Final, the Boston Bruins will hope to have a full and healthy roster of players to choose from, but even that may be a bit of a faint hope. Kevan Miller hasn’t yet skated in the post-season and there’s no reason we can see for that changing.

Meanwhile, Chris Wagner was replaced in Game 4 of the series with the Carolina Hurricanes by Noel Acciari after injuring his arm blocking a shot in the Game 3 victory. He returned to Boston following that third game with his arm in a sling. He too seems unlikely to factor in.

Beyond these two, there was concern that Boston Bruins captain, Zdeno Chara may miss more than just the one game he’s missed thus far these play-offs. However, the lengthy lay-off between Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final and Game 1 of the Stanley Cup Final should hopefully allow the 42 year-old ample recovery time.

There was no real clarity at the time as to why he missed the final game of the series in Carolina, but you’d have to assume, given that he’s now back skating with the team, it couldn’t have been too serious.

Likewise, there was an element of concern among Boston Bruins fans on Sunday when the practice lines were missing David Krejci with Karson Kuhlman filling in on the second line in his stead.

That turned out to be little more than a maintenance day, which was probably well-earned given Krejci was one of very few Boston Bruins players to appear in all 82 regular season games this campaign.

With over a week of practice ahead before the puck drops on the Stanley Cup Final, the Boston Bruins will be doing all they can to stay fighting fit. There’s even talk of a select group of the Providence Bruins players joining up with them for some higher-intensity scrimmages.

Obviously, the idea is positive; it’ll keep the players fit and ready to go, but could you imagine losing someone like a Brad Marchand or Brandon Carlo just before the first game of the final?

The next week is certainly going to have to be carefully managed, but for one of very few times this season, it appears the Boston Bruins have a full near-healthy roster to pick from.

Injury statistics courtesy of NHL Injury Viz.