How McAvoy’s Injury Affects the Trade Deadline for the Bruins

Thirty minutes for the Boston Bruins took on the Philadelphia Flyers at the Wells Fargo Center Tuesday night, the Bruins announced that Charlie McAvoy would miss the game with an upper-body injury. It certainly was not encouraging news, considering rookie Jeremy Swayman was making his NHL debut in the net.

Already down Brandon Carlo, who coach Bruce Cassidy has said is week-to-week with an upper-body injury, losing McAvoy makes the Bruins even thinner on the blue line in what is turning into a key stretch of games in the race for the fourth and final playoff spot in the East Division.

Thanks to Swayman, who made 23 of his 40 saves in the second period of a 4-2 win over the Flyers, the Black and Gold were able to expand on their lead in the division from four to five points in the last 48 hours.

Following Tuesday’s victory, Cassidy said there was no update on McAvoy and he was day-to-day with an upper-body injury. That is not good news for a Boston team that is patching together six bodies a night to get through games on the blue line.

Does McAvoy’s injury change Bruins’ GM Don Sweeney’s trade deadline targets?

The Bruins have multiple needs by the 3 p.m. trade deadline Monday afternoon. A middle-six forward is needed to help with secondary scoring, but now it seems that Sweeney may have to be active on the trade market to improve the blue line as well.

Tuesday night, the Bruins rolled out Kevan Miller for the first time in 46 days with Matt Grzelcyk on the top pairing, followed by Jeremy Lauzon and Connor Clifton and Steven Kampfer and Jakub Zboril. Not exactly the six blueliners Cassidy as hoping to go in front of Swayman.

Last night Lauzon was the team leader in time-on-ice at 24:09, with 4:11 of that coming while the Bruins were shorthanded. Miller was second with 22:25 in time-on-ice on a team-high 29 shifts.

Miller has had four surgeries on his knee and playing him 22:25 a night is only to cause more wear and tear on his knee. Lauzon, who is getting back into the flow following surgery for a fractured hand, played well, but expecting nearly 25 minutes a night from him is a bit unrealistic.

Rookie Jakub Zboril had a key turnover in the second period that led to the Flyers’ first goal, while Kampfer and Clifton were not noticeable much in the game and spent too much time in the Bruins defensive zone.

This is where Sweeney and the front office need to make some decisions. The Bruins need to take their time with Carlo coming back from a concussion and McAvoy missing a large amount of time would be a big blow to a team that has been devasted by injuries on the blue line all season.

If Carlo and McAvoy are able to return at some point, how many more minutes does Miller have left in his knee? Zboril started the season strong, but his play has tailed off as of late. Kampfer and Clifton are just replacements until the Bruins are able to get healthy.

This is why the trade deadline is going to make or break which way the Bruins go this season. Adding a forward is the top priority, but also adding a defenseman is also at the top of the list. The Bruins have five days to add depth to the blue line if they are serious about making a postseason run.