Boston Bruins: Who will be the next call-up from Providence?
By Luke Ryan
The wily veterans seeking a chance with the Boston Bruins
Whilst the Boston Bruins line-up already has plenty of experience in the likes of team captain, Zdeno Chara, Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci and company, you can never have enough leadership in the room.
The Providence Bruins roster is well-constructed with a great blend of youthful enthusiasm and veteran experience and leadership to keep the young guys in check.
Providence team captain, Paul Carey is a great option to have up our sleeves; he’s the sort of locker-room guy that is relied upon in the AHL to teach the youngsters NHL lessons. He has made a career of bouncing between the NHL and AHL, suggesting he is more than able to get the job done but offers nothing more than your standard replaceable call-up.
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Perhaps the reason why he’s an outside shot at a promotion is the fact that he is the Providence Bruins captain. Why subtract that leadership from your American Hockey League affiliate, only to plug him in, most likely on the Boston Bruins fourth line for a game or two?
The next wily veteran is Brendan Gaunce. I know what you’re thinking – he’s hardly a wily veteran. Indeed, no he isn’t – he’s just 25 years old. However on a roster that has an average age of just 23 (and a bit), he’s one of the older players.
He has 4 goals and 2 assists in 9 games this season, not bad for the first-round pick (26th overall) of the Vancouver Canucks back in 2012, though not as lofty in production as Carey, who has 13 points through 16 games, nor the next veteran, Alexander Petrovic.
Alex Petrovic was added this summer after a successful professional try-out with the Boston Bruins. Given the defensive depth in the NHL, he was always a rank outsider to make the opening night roster, but any further injuries on the blue-line and you’d think he may get a chance.
He has proven himself more than capable in the American Hockey League, breaking out with some offensive flair for 12 points in 15 games. Given the 27 year old has never cracked more than 20 points in an AHL season, safe to say he’s producing above expectations and could prove useful to the Boston Bruins at some point.
Obviously, these guys are fighting with the young bucks too, in the hopes of earning that call-up. But who exactly?