Bruins: Foligno’s return, Frederic’s status and more updates

Bruce Cassidy, fresh off his 200th win as head coach of the Boston Bruins, provided a few updates on the status of some of the Bruins’ health on Wednesday.

The best news of the day was that Nick Foligno would be able to return tomorrow. He’d been out for a bit with an upper-body injury he sustained in the second game of the season against the Philadelphia Flyers. That third line of Foligno, Erik Haula and Jake DeBrusk had some good looks early in the season and hasn’t been the same since Foligno’s absence.

In the two games played this season, Foligno has an assist.

There is also a chance Anton Blidh may return, who was injured in the Buffalo Sabres game with an upper-body injury.

However, it wasn’t with some not so great news. Just as the Bruins are getting healthy, another injury occurred.

Trent Frederic got hit hard by defensemen Josh Brown in last night’s win over Ottawa. He left and did not return, and Cassidy stated he would not be available tomorrow. How long the fourth-line grinder will be out is unknown.

In addition, Jack Studnicka is being sent down to the AHL. After skating a couple of games on wing, it’s clear that he’s much more comfortable in a center role. It isn’t doing him, or the Bruins, any favors by continuously trying him on wing in Boston.

You also have to look at the fact that Studnicka hasn’t exactly earned the trust of Bruce Cassidy. The young winger has been sat numerous times and is averaging just 10:40 minutes on the ice per game when he has played.

It will be mutually beneficial for Studnicka to play in Providence and get some first-line minutes as a center, while veterans like Foligno can fill in the wing role instead.

The final update is that Linus Ullmark will get the start in net on Thursday. He last played in the Bruins’ 5-2 loss to the Toronto Maple Leafs. He, along with the Bruins’ defense, have a tough task ahead of them with an Edmonton Oilers’ offense that is averaging 4.18 goals per game, the most in the league.

What the bottom-six will look like with Foligno returning and Studnicka/Fredeirc both out of the lineup remains to be seen. But the Bruins will need all the offensive help they can get to keep up with Connor McDavid, Leon Draisaitl and the rest of the potent Edmonton offense.