When it comes to the Bruins, and the entire National Hockey League for that matter, nobody is healthy in May. Not if they gave everything they possibly could in pursuit of a Stanley Cup, anyway.
And during that quest to lift hockey’s ultimate prize, players and teams keep injuries and injury updates not just closely guarded, but behind 10 doors, each of which requiring a more intense and intricate password than the one before. But once it ends, the proverbial vow of silence is lifted, with most players willingly to talk about what they went through over the course of the 82-game grind and/or postseason.
It’s not an excuse for anybody’s play, but rather an acknowledgement of the battle within the battle, and with the player finally able to tell you a secret they kept with them for days, weeks, or months.
SUNRISE, FLORIDA – MAY 08: Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins warms up prior to Game Two of the Second Round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs against the Florida Panthers at Amerant Bank Arena on May 08, 2024( Joel Auerbach/Getty Images)’
The big one — and one that’s hardly a shock to anybody — is that Bruins captain Brad Marchand missed Games 4 and 5 of Boston’s second-round series against the Panthers with a concussion.
Marchand actually revealed as much in the immediate aftermath of Boston’s season-ending loss on Friday, too.
“I definitely pushed it getting back [and] wouldn’t say I was upfront about how I felt,” Marchand said following the B’s Game 6 loss. “But it’s hard to sit out and make the decision to sit out. The only reason I got pulled out of that game, the only reason I was in [concussion] protocol was because the doctors forced me into it. So, I got through it.”
The playoff absences were the first of Marchand’s career, and the 5-foot-9 Marchand went down swinging in Game 6, with a plus-1 rating, two hits, and one shot on goal in just over 20 minutes of time on ice.
But the ailments didn’t stop with Marchand.
Feb 22, 2024; Calgary, Alberta, CAN; Boston Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) against the Calgary Flames during the second period at Scotiabank Saddledome. (Sergei Belski/USA TODAY Sports)
On the backend, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy spent the year dealing with an upper-body injury that was nagging in its nature, and McAvoy confirmed that it was exactly that.
“I had an [acromioclavicular], which kind of sucked,” McAvoy revealed. “I’ve never heard that before. And that’s really an annoying injury, like, a couple of people were like, ‘You’re gonna deal with that all year.’ They weren’t wrong.”
Despite the injury, McAvoy set a career-high in goals this past regular season (12), and established career-best marks in both blocks (159) and hits (159) for the Bruins. McAvoy appeared to trust his shot a bit less in the playoffs, though, often looking for the extra pass or showing a bit of shooting reluctance when the puck was on his stick, though it’s unclear if the injury worsened or made shooting the puck more difficult as the playoffs went on.
“Like, it’s annoying, but, it’s not one of those things you can’t overcome,” McAvoy said. “Everybody deals with stuff like that.”
May 8, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) looks on against the Florida Panthers during the third period in game two of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports)
Up front, Bruins superstar David Pastrnak, who finished with 110 points during the regular season, revealed that he dealt with a groin injury off and on throughout the season.
“Yeah, I had a couple of groin issues this season that were coming back a lot,” Pastrnak, whose aforementioned 110 points were a staggering 43 more than the next closest player on the Bruins, offered. “But the main thing was the groin.”
Pastrnak did, however, note that the groin issues did not affect his play in the postseason.
Jan 20, 2024; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk (48) takes a shot for an assist on a goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the first period at the TD Garden. (Brian Fluharty/USA TODAY Sports)
Elsewhere on the backend, Bruins defenseman Matt Grzelcyk suffered an early-season injury that set the tone for what was a downright nightmarish season for Grzelcyk from both a production and consistency standpoint.
“Early in the year I just tore my oblique, so that was why I had to go on LTIR for about a month there,” Grzelcyk said. “I think that that kind of derailed me a little bit, not even just from the injury, just having to miss 10 games. I think that kind of was tough to get back from and I had a tough time finding my groove after that.”
Grzelcyk, who is a pending unrestricted free agent, has not had any extension talks with the Bruins, and the writing is on the wall when it comes to the sides parting ways.
May 8, 2024; Sunrise, Florida, USA; Bruins defenseman Derek Forbort (28) controls the puck against the Panthers during the first period in game two of the second round of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs at Amerant Bank Arena. (Sam Navarro/USA TODAY Sports)
Another injured blue liner, Derek Forbort was a battered man throughout the 2023-24 season. In fact, the Bruins themselves thought that Forbort’s year was done when they went out and acquired Andrew Peeke from the Blue Jackets at the 2024 trade deadline, as Forbort had two surgeries on deck. To the shock of just about everybody, Forbort would work his way for some playoff appearances, and was able to finally disclose what exactly happened.
“I got both of my groins done, and there was a torn ligament in my thumb, so they fixed that too,” Forbort revealed.
Another pending unrestricted free agent, the 6-foot-3 Forbort is unsure what his future holds with the Black and Gold, but made it clear that this is where he would like to stay.
“Definitely,” Forbort said when asked if he’s interested in re-signing with the Bruins. “Jim [Montgomery] is someone that I love playing for, the way he thinks about the game and the way he explains things. I love the guys in the locker room, I’ve been on other teams and this is a pretty special group in here.”
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 20: Danton Heinen #43 of the Boston Bruins celebrates after scoring a hat trick goal against the Montreal Canadiens during the third period at TD Garden on January 20, 2024. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Up front, versatile winger Danton Heinen missed the final two games of Boston’s first-round series against the Maple Leafs and the first three games of the B’s second-round series with Florida with an injury he has decided to keep undisclosed even with the season officially over. The most Heinen was willing to offer on the subject was that it was a ‘nagging’ injury, and that he believes it’s something that will not require offseason surgery.
This may be a business move on the part of Heinen, who is without a contract for next season. Especially when you look at how Heinen could have a decent cash-in (by his standards, at the very least) after turning a PTO into a league minimum contract last year before scoring 17 goals and 36 points in 74 games for the Bruins this past season.
Dec 27, 2023; Buffalo, New York, USA; Boston Bruins center Pavel Zacha (18) waits for the face-off during the third period against the Buffalo Sabres at KeyBank Center. (Timothy T. Ludwig/USA TODAY Sports)
Bruins forward Pavel Zacha also opted to keep his injury issues a bit of a mystery. Zacha admitted that he went through some bumps and bruises during the regular season (Zacha missed four games during the regular season), but left it at bumps and bruises. Zacha also appeared a bit sluggish during the postseason (his burst was noticeably lacking during the Toronto series and early parts of the Florida series), and when I asked him about his health during the postseason, he once again called them mere bumps and bruises.
In his second season with the Bruins, the 27-year-old Zacha matched a career-high in goals this season, with 21, and established new career-highs in both assists (38) and points (59).
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – JANUARY 15: Hampus Lindholm #27 of the Boston Bruins skates past Tyler Toffoli #73 of the New Jersey Devils during the third period at TD Garden on January 15, 2024 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
After suffering a broken foot during the 2023 Stanley Cup Playoffs, Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm got through the 2023-24 season relatively healthy and without any residual effects from the foot surgery.
In fact, Lindholm’s lone run-in on the injury front came in February and on a knee-on-knee collision during a matinee against the Dallas Stars. Lindholm would miss nine games with the knee ailment, and sported a knee brace upon his return to the B’s lineup, but found that it didn’t have any lingering issues beyond getting used to playing with a brace.
