BRIGHTON, Mass – The Bruins may have dinged up the brand new sports car that they just zoomed out of the show room.
Standout rookie winger Jakub Lauko had a collision with Noel Acciari during drills in the second session of Thursday’s camp practice at Warrior Ice Arena, and got “banged up” according to Bruins assistant coach Joe Sacco. The 18-year-old didn’t return to the practice session on Thursday and is currently being evaluated by the Bruins medical staff in a set of events that doesn’t look all too encouraging.
“He got banged up in one of the drills in the second half there, so he’s being evaluated as we speak now and we’ll know more later,” said Sacco.
It could be a “Welcome to the NHL” moment for Lauko colliding with the rock-solid Acciari as a friendly fire incident in practice, and the hope is obviously that it doesn’t hinder the momentum that the third round pick has already built in training camp. Lauko has two goals in two games and has shown blazing skating speed, an ability to finish around the net, tenacity and a bit of an edge to his game that has him playing much older than his teenage years would initially indicate.
With the rest of Boston’s China contingent coming back to camp at the end of this week, the rest of camp would have been a great chance to show if Lauko is nearing NHL readiness or if he’s merely a young guy flashing his skill at the start of the preseason.
In other injury news, Torey Krug and Acciari returned to taking contact at training camp and remain on schedule to get into some preseason games toward the end of camp. Anders Bjork is still being held out of contact in camp practices, and both Sean Kuraly (lower body) and Ryan Fitzgerald (lower body) are missing from practice after suffering injuries in preseason games. Patrice Bergeron (back spasms/groin surgery) has yet to make an appearance in training camp this date, but still has a couple of weeks to get ready for the season.