Boston Bruins: Urho Vaakanainen, Jack Studnicka could play at Lake Tahoe

After getting nearly fully healthy this past week with Jake DeBrusk and Matt Grzelcyk coming back, the Boston Bruins are once again being hit with the injury bug, and then some.

While DeBrusk has remained healthy since coming back from his lower-body injury, Grzelcyk suffered his third lower-body injury of the season and will miss Sunday’s outdoor game at Lake Tahoe against the Philadelphia Flyers.

Along with Grzelcyk still being injured, right wing Ondrej Kase is still out with an upper-body injury and will miss Sunday. However, these aren’t the only two regulars that will miss the outdoor game, as the B’s suffered two three more injuries over the last two games.

Two games ago, rookie Jakub Zboril suffered an upper-body injury and didn’t play in Boston’s most recent game. He is expected to miss Sunday. Additionally, in the Black and Gold’s most recent game, David Krejci and Kevan Miller also suffered injuries and aren’t expected to partake in Sunday’s outdoor game.

The Boston Bruins have officially placed defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and forward Jack Studnicka on the taxi squad.

With the injuries piling up, the B’s have officially called up defenseman Urho Vaakanainen and forward Jack Studnicka to the taxi squad, making it possible for them to play in Sunday’s matchup against the Flyers.

Studnicka has played six games in the NHL this season, scoring one goal and being a -2 plus/minus (+/-). He was sent down to Providence just nine days ago after recovering from a lower-body injury as head coach Bruce Cassidy felt he would get more playing time in the AHL.

With the P-Bruins this season, Studnicka has suited up for two games and has registered an assist.

Vaakanainen has spent this season in the AHL so far. He had a chance to make the NHL roster out of training camp, but was ultimately beaten out by fellow rookie Jakub Zboril. With Grizz, Zboril, and Miller injured, Vaakanainen now has a chance to find the lineup and show what he can do.

Ultimately, I think Vaakanainen has a slightly better chance over Studnicka to play Sunday.

With Zboril and Grzelcyk out, John Moore and Connor Clifton are almost guarantees to play on Sunday. But with Miller out, Cliffy will move over to the right side, leaving a spot for Vaakanainen. Studnicka has a good chance to play too, but not as good as Vaakanainen because there are still some forwards ahead of him that can fill up the bottom six, like Karson Kuhlman.