Fansided

Boston Bruins Place David Krejci On Injured Reserve

By Catherine Silverman

Oct 25, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins center David Krejci (46) during their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports
Oct 25, 2014; Toronto, Ontario, CAN; Boston Bruins center David Krejci (46) during their game against the Toronto Maple Leafs at Air Canada Centre. The Bruins beat the Maple Leafs 4-1. Mandatory Credit: Tom Szczerbowski-USA TODAY Sports /
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The Boston Bruins need to replace David Krejci for longer than anticipated (injured reserve)

The Boston Bruins just cannot catch a break this season.

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Although top-line center David Krejci has been insisting that he’s fine on and off since the season began, it’s clear that a lower body injury incurred during the pre-season was more serious than originally assumed. As a result, general manager Peter Chiarelli has placed Krejci on injured reserve and will leave him in Boston for the team’s four-game road trip out West.

In his place, the team has recalled 2010 fourth-round pick Craig Cunningham; Cunningham will be one of the slew of Providence forwards Boston has cycled through in the first two months of the season.

With Brad Marchand just returning from an injury and Chris Kelly in and out of the lineup as well, the Bruins cannot afford for Krejci to miss significant consecutive games — the loss of right wing Jarome Iginla and left wing Shawn Thornton in the off-season has hurt the team’s offensive depth. So far this year, the team has played everyone from Ryan Spooner and Seth Griffith to Cunningham and eighteen-year-old David Pastrnak, putting these call-ups on all four lines and swapping them into all three on-ice positions. The team sits too close to the cap ceiling to bring on another experienced NHL-er, but it’s tough to put a large number of AHL guys on the ice and still take home wins.

It’s showing, too — last year’s President’s Trophy winners are very middle of the pack this year.

Despite the frustrations undoubtedly felt by the franchise over the lack of player depth to pick from, though, the Bruins undoubtedly want Krejci to get better. The Czech center has provided balance for left wing Milan Lucic and developed chemistry with almost anyone slotted in on his right; with a multi-year contract extension set to kick in at the end of the 2015 playoffs, David Krejci is a player the Bruins cannot afford to burn out.

Hopefully, a week or two of extra rest will finally give the forward time to finish healing; a Boston roster without him is the last thing anyone wants to see.

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