Defenseman Jarred Tinordi participates in first practice with Bruins
After making the drive from Nashville to Boston following his waiver claim Saturday, Bruins defenseman Jarred Tinordi put on his new helmet and jersey and skated with his new teammates for the first time Tuesday.
Standing at 6-foot-6, it was obviously hard to miss Tinordi, who will wear No. 84 with the Bruins.
Jarred Tinordi: No. 84 in your programs. #NHLBruins pic.twitter.com/bPVpDxpCbI
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) March 2, 2021
“Big guy who moves well on the ice,” Bruins defenseman Brandon Carlo, who stands at 6-foot-5 himself, said of his first impression of Tinordi. “Watching him doing the two-on-two drills, he looks confident. A really nice guy off the ice, too. Got to talk to him for a second and look forward to building a relationship with him.”
Skating on a potential third pairing opposite Connor Clifton, Tinordi’s on-ice presence Tuesday meant that he cleared the league’s COVID protocols just fine, and is now available to the Bruins.
“He’s available to us and we’ll see tomorrow,” Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy offered after the session at Warrior Ice Arena. “I’m not going to tell you today [if] he’s in or not [for Wednesday vs. Washington]. We’ll have a conversation with him, see how he responds. He hasn’t been on the ice a lot, but he may be ready to go.”
In action for seven games with the Predators this season, Tinordi’s racked up 12 hits and 11 blocked shots to go with eight shots on goal. He’s also coming off a year of career-highs in 2019-20, too, with single-season bests in assists (four), points (five), hits (71), blocks (36), time on ice per game (16:37), and games played (28).
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RZ46v8CbNiQ
Tinordi also took on what was a ton of defensive-zone work during his time with the Predators, and his physical presence may be required with the Bruins still without Jeremy Lauzon and Kevan Miller (and experiencing some problems during their absences), and with a two-game set against the heavier Capitals on deck.
But Cassidy isn’t going to tip his hand just yet, especially with a potential Matt Grzelcyk return looming.
“I’m not going to rule [Tinordi] out, but I’m not going to say he’s definitely in,” Cassidy repeated. “Some of that depends on [Grzelcyk]. He skated, is ready to go tomorrow? Also some of the other bodies that are available to us, even though they’re different players, some of it will be a domino effect once we do find out from Grz.”