BOSTON — At some point, probably on Saturday, maybe on Sunday, expect the following announcement to come from the Bruins: “The Boston Bruins have called up (INSERT NAME HERE) from Providence on an emergency basis.”
Even if Brad Marchand’s undisclosed upper-body injury that he suffered in the Bruins’ Game 3 loss to Florida on Friday, turns out not to be serious it would be surprising if they didn’t call up somebody just in case. Whose name will be inserted on the announcement will offer a window into what Boston’s plan is.
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Providence finished its season with an overtime playoff loss to Hartford so Boston could summon several players to be around the big club, but are unlikely to add more than one who’d practice and potentially play with the Bruins regulars.
If Danton Heinen gets cleared, he’s probably back in the Bruins lineup. He’s the most known quantity available and offers some offense. If he’s not cleared, they could plug Jesper Boqvist back in too, but that’s unlikely to spark a struggling offense. But they’d still be likely to summon someone, at least for depth.
Safer choices
Patrick Brown — Brown played in Game 1 and was serviceable. He can be a useful bottom-six player. He is unlikely however to offer much in the way of scoring.
Jayson Megna — He’s played 204 NHL games in his career including one in Boston this year. He has 19 goals and 37 assists in 69 games this season. He’s been a long-time solid AHL producer, who has never really been able to put up numbers in the NHL.
Marc McLaughlin — The former BC forward hasn’t looked out of place in Boston in prior stints, but a guy who has 14 points in the AHL isn’t going to score much in the NHL playoffs.
More aggressive choices
Georgii Merkulov — He didn’t make an impact in a short stint in Boston earlier this season, but could he be better the second time around? He had 30 goals and 35 assists in 67 AHL games this season. He might have the most offensive upside of any of the choices, but he’d be a gamble.
Anthony Richard — He had 25 goals and 30 assists in 59 games. The Bruins sent him down to avoid having to potentially expose him to waivers after a mostly solid stint in Boston earlier in the year. His scoring numbers haven’t translated at the higher level, but he might be more of a scoring threat than Brown or even Boqvist.
It should be noted here that Fabian Lysell is injured and wouldn’t be an option.
