Brad Marchand and the Boston Bruins have a good idea of when they’d like to reunite.
Speaking at the Boston Bruins Foundation Golf Tournament in Plymouth on Thursday, Marchand said he plans to resume skating on Friday, a major step in his rehab from off-season hip surgery. He’s still expected to miss around six weeks from the start of the regular season, but is aiming to return in late November, which would mark a total recovery time of six months.
“I think [my return will be] around there, the end of the month – the last few days of November is kind of the target date. It’s about six months, around there,” said Marchand (via Eric Russo at NHL.com).
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The Bruins could obviously use Marchand back as soon as possible, but especially so in that late November range. Specifically Monday, Nov. 21, when the B’s hit the road to take on the Tampa Bay Lightning. That night begins an absolute gauntlet of a schedule, when the Bruins face, in order: Tampa, Florida, Carolina, Tampa again, Colorado (!), Vegas, Colorado again (!!).
Marchand may be looking at the Bruins’ schedule himself and thinking, “Guys if we could go ahead and get me back on the ice for THOSE games, that would be greeeat.” But regardless of how the schedule shook out, six months has always been the approx. timeline for Marchand to come back.
The good news, based on Marchand’s comments at the golf tournament, is that his recovery process is still on time. Barring a setback, the Bruins have a chance to get their perennial Hart Trophy candidate just in time for the toughest stretch of the season.
We’ll continue to keep you updated on the Bruins here at 985TheSportsHub.com, with training camp and the preseason beginning next week. You can get weekly Bruins thoughts from Ty Anderson and myself on the Sports Hub Underground podcast, which you can hear above. Click here for complete Bruins coverage.
Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @realmattdolloff. You can also email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
