Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy seem to remain on track to return in the November-December range. But neither of them are trying to look that far ahead.

The Bruins’ All-Star winger and defenseman spoke at length about their injury recoveries with NHL.com’s Eric Russo as part of Media Day on Monday, and generally, it sounds like business as usual. Each of their original timetables indicated a return around Thanksgiving, at the earliest.

Neither Marchand nor McAvoy wanted to put a number on anything, opting to defer to the overall process and a one-day-at-a-time approach. Marchand explained that his particular rehab, from arthroscopic surgery and labral repairs on both hips, is different from previous ones, in that he feels healthy but still has to take it slow getting back on the ice.

“I don’t want to be definitive in what the timetable is, [I’ll] try to see how I feel,” Marchand said. “I haven’t dealt with anything like this before where I feel really good, but I still have to be careful with where I’m at. My surgeries before, once I feel good, I can go. But it’s not quite like that with this one. I’ve just got to be careful.”

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As for McAvoy, he remains in recovery from a “ left shoulder arthroscopic stabilization procedure,” per Russo. He’s trying his best not to discuss or even think about his return date, and just focus on what he has to do on every given day.

“It’s hard to look that far into the future and have that date circled,” McAvoy told NHL.com. “We’re really worried about one day at a time and making sure that we are stacking those bricks, those foundation bricks ahead of each other.”

We remain weeks, if not months, away from real clarity on when Marchand or McAvoy will be able to take the ice in game action again. It remains likely that the Bruins have to navigate their first 20 games of the season without them, at a minimum.

Taylor Hall, Pavel Zacha, and Nick Foligno look like the top candidates to play on Patrice Bergeron’s left while Marchand is out. On defense, they’re expected to start with a top pairing of Hampus Lindholm and Brandon Carlo, but if they end up signing veteran Anton Stralman, they could re-shuffle. Staying above water in the Eastern Conference with these guys will be crucial, as the Bruins await the returns of arguably their two best, most important players.

It’s still unclear when Marchand and McAvoy will actually be back, but it appears that everything’s going according to plan.

Sep 30, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Boston Bruins center Patrice Bergeron (37) celebrates a goal by center Brad Marchand (63) with left wing Taylor Hall (71) and defenseman Charlie McAvoy (73) during the first period against the Philadelphia Flyers at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-USA TODAY Sports

The Bruins’ season opener is set for Wednesday night in Washington, D.C., when they take on the Capitals. We’ll have you covered here at 985TheSportsHub.com. And you can always get our latest thoughts on the Bruins with Ty Anderson and me on the Sports Hub Underground podcast.

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. Check out all of Matt’s content here.