Boston Bruins: Just like that, these two forwards are back

The Boston Bruins are playing a little bit of yo-yo on the AHL transaction boards.

One day after sending Oskar Steen and Jack Studnicka back down to Providence, the Bruins have recalled them again ahead of Wednesday’s game against Florida, per AHL transactions.

Sending down the two at first seemed to make sense on the surface. With Boston having so many injuries, they needed bodies for Sunday’s game against San Jose, but if the team were to get these players back, they wouldn’t needed the two youngsters anymore.

However, Bruce Cassidy previously mentioned that Nick Foligno and Anton Blidh would likely not make the road trip to Florida and Carolina. That left the Bruins with 11 forwards, and that is including Craig Smith, who did not play this weekend. They were going to need to bring someone else up, or gain someone else back from injury, and they were forced to go with the former.

Who is likely in and who is out for the Bruins’ game on Wednesday?

Boston practiced on Tuesday morning and Steen and Studnicka both slide back into their spots in the lineup that they skated with on Sunday.

Steen was on the third line, playing right wing with Erik Haula and Jake DeBrusk. Playing with the two on Sunday, he notched his first NHL point with an assist on DeBrusk’s second period goal.

Studnicka was back centering the fourth line, with Trent Frederic and Karson Kuhlman flanking him on the wings.

Smith was not skating with the group on Tuesday and does not bode well for his availability for the next two games. His injury is undisclosed, but the fact that he wasn’t on the ice is not promising.

It’s a bit of a head scratcher that Cassidy has Studnicka down on the fourth line while Tomas Nosek is centering the second line. Nosek has looked extremely good so far for the Bruins and has fit on that line the last couple of games, but he was brought in for a fourth line role. Before, if you wanted Studnicka on the second line, there would be some shuffling that was needed. Now, all it would be is a simple switch of the two and Studnicka would be the second line center.

Also of note, Curtis Lazar was skating in a regular practice jersey. A very good sign for Boston.

Of course, it’s just practice, so we’ll see if anything changes during the games. The Bruins have three tough contests to finish the month and it looks like they will need Steen and Studnicka to help them win.