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Boston Bruins: Jack Studnicka and Anders Bjork get looks on first line

By Matt Hawkins

LAVAL, QC - OCTOBER 16: Jack Studnicka #23 of the Providence Bruins skates the puck against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell on October 16, 2019 in Laval, Canada. The Laval Rocket defeated the Providence Bruins 5-4 in a shoot-out. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
LAVAL, QC - OCTOBER 16: Jack Studnicka #23 of the Providence Bruins skates the puck against the Laval Rocket at Place Bell on October 16, 2019 in Laval, Canada. The Laval Rocket defeated the Providence Bruins 5-4 in a shoot-out. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images) /
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Both Jack Studnicka and Anders Bjork joined Patrice Bergeron on the Boston Bruins’ first line in today’s scrimmage.

Today, Thursday, Jan. 7, the Boston Bruins held their first scrimmage of the short training camp before the 2021 season starts on Jan. 13 — Jan. 14 against the New Jersey Devils for the B’s.

So far through these few days of training camp, we have learned that right wing David Pastrnak will not be ready for the season opener. However, coach Cassidy stated that Pasta is a bit ahead of schedule in his recovery, but he just isn’t sure how far ahead.

With this, the expected return date for Pastrnak is still mid-February. With Pasta unable to practice, rookie forward Jack Studnicka has been taking his spot as the first line’s right wing.

This even continued in today’s scrimmage, which is a bit of a surprise to some as it was expected that Boston would want to only use Studnicka at his natural position of center.

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But for only the month that Pasta is expected to miss, Studnicka on the first line seems like the plan with Cassidy not wanting to break up the chemistry of the second line of Jake DeBrusk, David Krejci, and Ondrej Kase, and wanting to build chemistry on the third line with center Charlie Coyle and free agent signing right wing Craig Smith.

As for the left side of the first line, Brad Marchand is expected to be ready for the Black and Gold’s season opener. However, with him donning a non-contact jersey throughout training camp so far, he was unable to participate in today’s scrimmage.

Related Story. Boston Bruins: 3 Options to Replace Marchand if he’s unable to start the season. light

Instead, Anders Bjork took his spot. This comes as a surprise to many as he’s considered a bottom-six forward by most fans. I’m one of those that’s surprised by this. I was expecting either Jake DeBrusk or even Nick Ritchie in place of Marchy.

But again, Cassidy doesn’t seem willing to break up the second line.

Despite the lack of confidence in Bjork by fans, he actually played quite well on the first line with Bergeron and Studnicka. Both him and Studnicka brought a lot of energy to their line as they were both playing with chips on their shoulders.

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As of right now, Studnicka seems to be the clear favorite to fill in for Pastrnak until he returns. Additionally, if Marchand misses a game, it seems as though Bjork is the favorite to fill in for him.

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