Over the last couple of months the Boston Bruins have been getting slammed with injuries, especially on their blue line. At one point, four of the six starting defensemen from opening night were sidelined.
Now, the B’s are finally getting close to completely healthy. Matt Grzelcyk and Jakub Zboril have both been back for a few weeks now, and Jeremy Lauzon returned on Saturday against the Buffalo Sabres.
So the Black and Gold have the left side of their blue line back, but two-thirds of their right side is still out with injuries.
Brandon Carlo has been out ever since taking a headshot from Washington Capitals’ right wing Tom Wilson earlier in March, and Kevan Miller has now been out for over a month as his surgically repaired knee started to act up.
Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller should be back in the Boston Bruins’ lineup soon.
While it’s unknown exactly when Brandon Carlo and Kevan Miller will be back in the lineup (Miller has a chance to play on Tuesday), they’ve both taken significant steps toward returning.
Both Carlo and Miller practiced with the team on Monday. Carlo began skating again last week and even practiced with the team in a non-contact jersey. On Monday, he was in a regular, black practice jersey. Miller was also seen skating and practicing last week and also practiced normally on Monday.
The return of both Carlo and Miller will be huge for Boston defense, not only for in their own zone, but also for in their opposition’s zone.
One of the biggest issues for the B’s with all of these injuries to their blueliners has been their inability to execute breakout passes from their own zone. With Carlo, and even Miller back, Boston should be able to mitigate this problem.
Additionally, I think the injuries to Carlo and Miller have shown us that Connor Clifton is not ready to handle a regular role in the lineup. While he has played well at times, he has been quite inconsistent and has made several eye-burning turnovers.
I think when Miller returns, head coach Bruce Cassidy should rotate the two defense, as both a way to not overwhelm the young Clifton and to manage the workload of a fragile Miller. With the way Steve Kampfer has played, I’d even put him in the lineup over both of them every now and then.
Carlo returning is the more important of the two, however. He solidifies the top two pairings of the Black and Gold and allows Clifton to play on the third pairing, where he didn’t struggle as much.
Although Carlo is more important, one of either of these defensemen returning will be a good thing for this team. It’s obvious Clifton needs a break and shouldn’t be playing not the second pairing and some of Charlie McAvoy’s minutes need to be taken by someone else so he isn’t burnt out by the end of the regular season.