By: Patrick Donnelly
In what was a busy day on Thursday for the Bruins as far as roster transactions go, after officially announcing the waiver claim of Gemel Smith, the Bruins also released the following transactions:
- Charlie McAvoy has been activated off injured reserve.
- Kevan Miller has been placed on injured reserve.
- Connor Clifton has been assigned to the Providence Bruins of the AHL.
McAvoy missed the last 20 games after sustaining a concussion in the game at Edmonton on October 18th. The 20-year-old had been skating over the last few weeks and finally rejoined the team for a full practice in a maroon “no-contact” sweater just a few days ago. McAvoy made his return on Thursday night and Tampa Bay as he was an extremely welcomed presence for a defense corps that is still without Miller, Zdeno Chara, and Urho Vaakanainen.
McAvoy looked solid in his return, obviously there was some rust on the wheels, though. Understandable considering he missed a little under two months. McAvoy’s 21:02 of ice time with John Moore saw mistakes in the first period like a hooking penalty and an egregious turnover that led to Brayden Point’s 21st of the season. Inevitable mistakes aside, McAvoy was a friendly sight for this struggling Bruins team, registering just two shots on goal and a minus-1 rating. On a final note, McAvoy needs to shoot more, plain and simple.
As for Miller, last week he took a John Tavares shot to the throat in the game at Toronto and quickly went to the hospital after leaving the game. After further evaluation, it was revealed that the 31-year-old sustained a cartilage injury to his larynx (ouch) and will not be reevaluated for at least another month.
Connor Clifton was one of the several defensemen called up from Providence. In nine games, Clifton had six shots on goal, zero points, 11 penalty minutes (including a fight where he beat the lights out of Jason Spezza; see below), and a plus-2 rating. Clifton has four assists and a plus-4 rating in 15 games in the AHL this season.
WTBU Sports 