Boston Bruins: Key stars could be out a while

The Boston Bruins had two games canceled after Sean Kuraly entered the NHL’s  COVID-19 protocol. It appears that he was just the tip of the iceberg as more players are now in the NHL protocol.

Boston now has four other players in the protocol, and they aren’t fourth liners. The B’s could be without key players such as David Pastrnak, David Krejci, Jake DeBrusk, and Craig Smith.

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Now, this could mean a lot of things. These players could have tested positive or they could just be in protocols for contact tracing purposes.

If these players have tested positive, they will be out for a while and that’s not even considering the fact that they could be physically affected by COVID-19. That could really hurt the Bruins.

Of course, the main focus is on these player’s health, so hopefully they are doing well, but there is no doubt that they will be missed on the ice.

Can the Boston Bruins survive without these players?

There is no doubt that Boston has had some serious issues with secondary scoring. There has been a lot of reliance on the first line and players like Charlie McAvoy.

If Pastrnak, Krejci, and DeBrusk all had to miss time together, Boston would be rocked. All the pressure would be put on Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand.

To the Bruins credit, players like Trent Frederic have stepped up and so has Craig Smith. They have started to score and help out the top line.

But now all that momentum is gone. The Bruins will get a rest which is needed, but they likely would have wanted to keep playing and get in sync.

This is especially the case for DeBrusk. After getting sent to the ninth floor he has played much better and started to score. The shame is just that he is unable to get in a rhythm because he can’t stay on the ice.

Things just don’t seem to be going DeBrusk’s way. After getting called out by Bruce Cassidy, the Bruins might actually move on from the winger and give him a fresh start.

So things aren’t looking good for the Bruins right now. They won’t be playing or even practicing for a while which could do much more harm than good.

Boston could be without some true stars who are now in COVID-19 protocols. With how thin the roster is stretched, fans could see some boring and poor efforts in the near future.