As is tradition in hockey season for any team, players will be out of action due to injury and can pile up on occasion. The Bruins know this, as they were without Matt Grzelcyk, Brad Marchand, and Charlie McAvoy on opening night. Right now, they also have some more guys banged up for varying reasons.
On Saturday at practice, head coach Jim Montgomery gave updates on Boston’s injuries, so I decided to be in a giving mood and re-share that information here. Montgomery first said this about all of the injuries:
"“No one has received bad news, which is good. But how quickly they’re going to be back, we don’t know.”"
We’ll start things off with Linus Ullmark, enjoying a fantastic start to his second season wearing the Spoked B on his sweater. Ullmark left Friday’s thrilling comeback win thanks to an upper-body injury. According to Montgomery, Ullmark is doing better and is currently day-to-day. For what it’s worth, Keith Kinkaid is not listed on the Bruins roster as of Sunday morning, so take that how you will.
Another Bruin who left the game on Saturday injured was winger Craig Smith, who drew in for Trent Frederic. According to Montgomery, Smith sustained an upper-body injury in the third period as Ullmark did and is also listed as day-to-day.
Smith was in the lineup for the Bruins in place of Frederic because Frederic is also banged up. During Boston’s road win against the Tampa Bay Lightning, Frederic left the contest with, you guessed it, an upper-body injury. He skated on his own following Saturday’s practice and is also day-to-day as he works his way back.
The final player to report on is Derek Forbort, currently on LTIR after undergoing right middle finger surgery. He has missed the last 11 games but is practicing with the team and appears close to returning. Montgomery said that Forbort is indeed getting close to returning and said that he would be shocked if Forbort isn’t in the lineup by December 3 against the Colorado Avalanche.
To wrap things up here, none of Ullmark, Smith, or Frederic have been placed on injured reserve since Sunday morning, so that is encouraging news for Bruins fans. Everyone is day to day, another sign that absences by any of the three will not last long. Oh, and to top things off, this team is still really good.