BRIGHTON, Mass – It looks like “Vaakanainen Time” may have to wait as Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) looks like he’s going to be able to play in Wednesday night’s season opener against the Washington Capitals.
Grzelcyk (lower body) shed the non-contact jersey in practice for Tuesday’s on-ice workout at Warrior Ice Arena and was serving in Torey Krug’s role as point man on the top power play unit toward the end of practice. That not only means that it’s highly probably Grzelcyk will be able to play on Wednesday night vs. the Caps, but also could open up a lot more offense for the puck-moving defenseman in the wake of Krug’s left ankle injury.
“Today was a really good day. I felt 100 percent out there, so hopefully I have another good skate before the game and we’ll see what happens from there,” said Grzelcyk, who is looking to build onward and upward from three goals and 15 points in 61 games from last season. “I think being out [on the top power play], they have such good chemistry that you’re just trying not to hinder them in any way. It’s pretty cool being out there obviously. You find yourself in different areas with the ability to make different plays.
“I don’t want to be out there trying too many crazy things. But if I go out there with a little confidence and maybe build on that, maybe it will transition into more of my game and I can build into 5-on-5 [play]. I feel like I have a little bit more ability offensively, so I definitely want to showcase it if I can.”
MORE BRUINS
Grzelcyk skated in a pairing with normal partner Kevan Miller during Tuesday’s final full practice ahead of the regular season opener, and it appears he’ll be in line for normal third pairing duties as he was during his rookie season last year. One thing that will be interesting to watch is how well Grzelcyk can perform on that power play unit and whether he can provide something close to Krug’s offense in the month or so that the normal PP orchestrator will be out of the lineup.
Boston Bruins
The chatter about the Bruins potential dangling Torey Krug for a legit goal-scoring sniper was partly predicated on the logic that Grzelcyk and/or Charlie McAvoy could provide a similar level of offense if the B’s were suddenly without Krug. Now we’ll get a chance to see how that theory works out in reality when Grzelcyk takes the ice on Wednesday night filling some of the roles that Krug normally carries for the Black and Gold.
With Grzelcyk looking healthy and ready to go, that means 19-year-old Urho Vaakanainen will have to wait a bit longer to make his NHL debut after an impressive training camp.
Here are the projected Bruins line combos and D-pairings for Wednesday’s opener based on today’s practice at Warrior Arena:
LINE COMBOS
- Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak
- DeBrusk-Krejci-Heinen
- Donato-Kuraly-Backes
- Nordstrom-Wagner-Acciari
D-PAIRINGS
- Chara-McAvoy
- Moore-Carlo
- Grzelcyk-Miller
GOALIE
- Rask