Troiani Rink Report

The Boston Bruins kicked off training camp Wednesday at Warrior Ice Arena with off-ice activities for the players and media availability for general manager Don Sweeney and head coach Marco Sturm.

Here are some of the key takeaways from the first day of camp:

Bruins will be without star forward for beginning of training camp
When the Bruins begin on-ice practice on Thursday, David Pastrnak will be sidelined for the first few days, Sweeney told reporters.

“David won’t skate (with the team) for the first couple of days,” Sweeney explained. “His last training block, he had got a little tendinitis and we as a group just said, ‘Hey, load management at this point in time is what’s the best course of action (to get him back) on the ice.”

Sweeney added that Pastrnak would be on the ice at times but would not be fully participating until next week.

The Bruins are focused on players within the organization
For the past few seasons, many players within the organization were expected to push for a roster spot with the NHL club, and Sweeney made it clear that it is a main focus in Boston heading into camp, instead of bringing players in for a professional tryout.

“We had a lot of discussions. We decided we’re not going to bring anybody in at this time,” Sweeney explained. “That’s a little bit of our determination of some of the players that we really wanna see in some situations.

“And we’ve done in the past where players have come in (in training camp), and we’ve committed to them during camp and given them a really good opportunity to make our team and players have. This year we decided, as we’re going through the process, that we’re going to stay committed to (our current players).”

It’s up to the younger players to prove they deserve to be in the NHL.

“It has not changed,” Sweeney said. “When you walk through that door for the first time, (…) you have to walk through, and take somebody’s job. That’s just the way our business works.

“(…) When a player’s playing well, and he’s good enough to play in the league, you can’t keep him out. But, if you’re not, you may have to bide your time. You have to encourage the players to play to their strengths, to do the things they’re capable of doing, teach them and reinforce the areas where they need to improve upon, and then you see incremental growth.”

Sweeney continued: “There’s plenty of opportunity for players to assert themselves and earn a role, but they have to do that. They have to come in and take that job. (…) We’re not in the business of keeping players that are ready to help us at the NHL level out of (the league) and not give them that opportunity to have success.”

He added the club has not closed the book on adding players to PTO if they can “improve” the team.

“We want to be keeping a close eye on several of those players that may or may not improve our team, if they are doing better.”

The Bruins are still angry about how last season went
After finishing in last place in the Eastern Conference with an overall record of 33-39-10 last season, the Bruins failed to make the playoffs for the first time since the 2015-16 campaign.

It’s definitely something that has put a chip on their shoulders and fueled them entering this season.

“What I’m hearing from the guys is that they wanna play,” Sturm said. “I can feel they’re a little pissed off from last year. … The good sign is they’re all ready to go, they’re all excited and they all wanna play, so that’s the good part.”

Zdeno Chara set to join Original Six franchise in official capacity
Even though the Bruins are still dotting all their I’s and crossing all the T’s, Sweeney said they are working to define Zdeno Chara’s role in the organization and an announcement will be coming soon.

“For him to be coming back to join us and to impart the leadership and mentorship role, advisory role, I think is really exciting for the organization,” Sweeney said. “In the last few weeks, (Chara) got back from Europe, met with Marco, and they have spent some time together to sort of streamline, identify, and put some guardrails up in terms of where he’s going to make his impact. So we’ll be announcing that in the near future in what his defined role is.”

Chara donned the Spoked-B for 14 seasons in Boston after signing with the Black and Gold as a free agent in 2006 and became the Original Six franchise’s 18th captain. He served as captain for his entire tenure in Boston.

The 6-foot-9 defenseman skated in 1,023 games for the B’s, lighting the lamp 148 times while adding 333 assists for 481 points. He won the Norris Trophy in 2009 and had his name engraved on the Stanley Cup when he helped lead the Bruins to their first championship in 39 years in 2011, the same season he won the Mark Messier Award.

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