Matt Grzelcyk, Jake DeBrusk, Brandon Carlo, Brad Marchand; all have missed some time due to injury this season and Coach Jim Montgomery hasn’t really been forthcoming with information about their expected returns as we might have expected. It’s been like trying to decipher, well, me at times.
So, I ask; What about Charlie McAvoy? Probably before December 1 and hopefully before (American) Thanksgiving. I believe it will be sooner than that.
A source tells me that General Manager Don Sweeney and Assistant General Manager Evan Gold are working the phones in an attempt to clear cap space in order to activate McAvoy from Long Term Injury Reserve. But they aren’t necessarily initiating all the calls. The same source says that one team on the lookout for a blueliner has reached out to the Bruins about a defenceman. When McAvoy is finally given a clean bill of health to return, the Bruins will have 9 NHL defencemen under one-way contracts and all requiring waivers. So, yes, they can afford to move one.
Last week I wrote about what would be required for the Bruins to become roster compliant and cap compliant to activate McAvoy.
Unfortunately, injuries have resurfaced and those change everything. David Krejci was placed on Injured Reserve retroactive to October 31 which means the earliest he can return is November 7. Keith Kincaid has been recalled as an Emergency Loan to replace an injured Jeremy Swayman – who at this time we don’t know how long he will be out. Jakub Lauko was called up to replace Krejci and Mike Reilly, who cleared waivers at the start of the season is back with the big club. Reilly cleared waivers on October 10 and those waivers are only good for 10 games or 30 days, at which point the Bruins will have to waive him again if they intend to send him to Providence.
It’s hard to say just what the situation is cap wise without knowing the status of Swayman. What I can tell you is that if it is serious and long term, putting him on LTIR won’t solve the Bruins issues – it’s just enough to cover Kincaid’s salary.
But I can also tell you that with Lauko and Reilly on the roster, the amount the Bruins need to clear in order to activate McAvoy jumps from $1.2 million (that I wrote about last week) to $2.869 million today – and that’s not taking into consideration the Swayman/Kincaid situation.
What seemed an easy task for Sweeney a week ago just got a little more difficult.
I trust they will get it done!
Dom - Hockey 