Boston Bruins: Who will be the next call-up from Providence?
By Luke Ryan
The Boston Bruins have called upon their minor-league depth multiple times already this year. Who should we expect to appear in the NHL next?
The Boston Bruins, of late, have been struck with plenty of injury woes leading to a host of call-ups from their minor-league affiliate in Providence. Not altogether unlike last season in this regards.
At the last count, the Boston Bruins were missing Torey Krug, David Backes, Jake Debrusk, John Moore, Kevan Miller, Karson Kuhlman and Brett Ritchie versus the Florida Panthers. Granted, some of those names are depth players but there’s at least two playing higher up the line-up that needed a strong replacement.
As a result of all these injuries, we’ve seen the likes of Urho Vaakanainen, Zach Senyshyn, Peter Cehlarik, Cameron Hughes and Anders Bjork all earning NHL ice-time this year. Not all of them are presently with the big club, but you’d put safe money that at least two-thirds of those names will skate in the NHL again this year.
Looking at the Providence Bruins roster, they certainly have some names that they could offer to the big club if they’re struggling to ice a full team.
It’s not absurd to imagine any of the three goaltenders in the system sitting on the bench in a backup role – Dan Vladar, Maxime Lagace or Kyle Keyser could all serve in that role. In terms of seeing ice-time though, you’d probably give the nod to Lagace, the NHL veteran of the trio with 17 games for his previous side, the Vegas Golden Knights.
Beyond the goaltending, there’s a lot of options; it all depends though whether the Boston Bruins want to reward wily veterans for their longevity in the AHL or give youngsters a chance to prove themselves as future NHL stars: