BOSTON — There are still some questions about what the Bruins’ banged-up blue line will look like Thursday night against Toronto, but the picture got a lot clearer at the morning skate.
That’s because there were just six defensemen on the ice for the Bruins in the skate. Adam McQuaid did not participate and has been ruled out for his third straight game as he continues to deal with a neck injury.
Matt Bartkowski had filled in for McQuaid in the last two games, but after struggling in limited minutes he was assigned to Providence earlier Thursday morning.
That leaves Steven Kampfer for the sixth and final spot on the blue line. He has yet to play this year after suffering a knee injury in the preseason, but he participated once again in the morning skate and appears set to make his season debut, even if he hasn’t gotten official word on that decision yet.
“I still don’t know,” Kampfer said after the skate. “I don’t know if I’m playing. That’s Claude [Julien]’s decision. I’m going to prepare like I’m playing. You come to the game ready to go, but it’s one of those things where I’ll find out after warm-ups.”
With just six defensemen available after Bartkowski’s demotion, simple math would indicate that Kampfer will return for this game, and Julien did say that Kampfer was “likely” to play barring any unexpected setbacks Thursday afternoon.
“I think you’ll probably see him in unless something comes up during the day that disallows me from using him,” Julien said. “Then we have a guy who has an hour’s drive to get here, so it’s not a big issue.”
If something did happen with Kampfer, Bartkowski could be quickly re-routed back to Boston, but for now the Bruins want him to work on his decision-making in the AHL.
“He just needs to play, it’s just a matter of him playing more,” Julien said of Bartkowski. “I thought his training camp was extremely good. He showed signs of being a little bit better, got stronger. Right now he just has to go there and play and maybe make some quicker decisions with the puck. The pace of this league is a little quicker, so at times we just felt he was a little slow in reacting and that got him in trouble.”
Kampfer will now have to show he’s ready for that pace in the NHL after overcoming a sprained MCL in his left knee as well as a more serious injury to his right knee at the end of last season.
“It’s been a while, but I’m excited for it,” Kampfer said. “I’m ready to go. I feel good. I’m just going to go out there and play my game, play simple and help this team get two points.”
Julien is also confident that Kampfer is ready to step back into the lineup and contribute.
“We saw him last year too and we have a pretty good idea about him,” Julien said. “He moves the puck well and when he’s confident he’s a guy who skates well and can carry the puck up the ice. He’s got some experience behind him and watching him in practice the last few days he seems to be moving the puck well and seems to be ready to go. So he’s going to get his shot.”
