David Pastrnak’s return to the ice was brief.
A day after debuting at Bruins summer camp, he was absent for Thursday’s practice, the fourth day of Phase 3, and the club deemed him “unfit to participate.”
Coach Bruce Cassidy, speaking after practice, said Pastrnak and Ondrej Kase were expected to skate with the team, but were unable to.
“That was the plan,” said Cassidy. “Regarding the league [designation] is ‘not eligible to participate’ at this time. Hopefully that will change in the near future, and yes, every time players miss a session where we wait for them again at full speed, until he is out there it is a concern for us as a team. But we are just going to keep going. ”
The mandatory NHL teams reveal nothing more about the ailments of players who are not “unfit to play” and “unable to practice.” In theory, those designations could apply to anything from regular hockey shots, bruises, sprains, and sprains to any coronavirus-related problem, such as a positive test for COVID-19 or a player kept in isolation because he is believed to have come. in close contact with a symptomatic person.
Although he did not directly confirm this, Cassidy previously alluded to the reason why Pastrnak and Kase arrived two days late at the camp was because they had to be quarantined after traveling to Boston from the Czech Republic, where they spent most of the break.
“Am I thinking of going without those guys in the round robin or the playoffs? No, ”said Cassidy. “That would be speculating.
“But yeah, for today if I get the news that the same thing will happen again tomorrow, then we start thinking about ‘OK, we’ve seen a couple of guys [as top-six right-wings], Anything else?’ We will meet as staff to go through that.
“But like I said, I’m not thinking too much about the future, except if it becomes something long-term, who is the best fit.”
Anders Bjork was in Pastrnak’s place at No. 1 on the right wing, with Jack Studnicka and Karson Kuhlman dividing replays at No. 2 on the right wing that the Bruins believed Kase could play when they acquired him last February.
Starting goalkeeper Tuukka Rask left after the first 10 to 15 minutes. Rask, who left for a short time on Tuesday when he was stung by a gunshot, did not return this time. Cassidy didn’t know if Rask’s problem was anything beyond the usual pains that any goalkeeper accumulates, but the coach noted that training staff had not told him.
Matt Porter can be contacted at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports
