Jake DeBrusk poised for a return vs. Panthers

BRIGHTON, Mass – It looks like the Bruins will get another healthy body back for Saturday’s tilt against the Florida Panthers as rookie Jake DeBrusk is expected to jump back into the lineup and take his normal spot on David Krejci’s left wing. DeBrusk has missed eight games with an upper body injury suffered in the comeback win over the Carolina Hurricanes a couple of weeks ago, and officially rejoined the team for practice on Thursday morning after missing some time.

So what to do with Ryan Donato, who has played so well in DeBrusk’s place over the last handful of games? Bruce Cassidy said that Donato might flip over to Krejci’s right side with Rick Nash still out of the lineup, or could move to the third line left wing if the Bruins promote Danton Heinen to the second line with Krejci and DeBrusk.

“With [Jake] DeBrusk it looks like he’ll be ready to go." Cassidy said Friday. "Obviously guys are getting closer, so Sunday is a possibility for Zee and Charlie. They’re skating. I’m not going to say if they’re in or out, but another day of progress and we’ll see where they are tomorrow.

“[DeBrusk] is going to go play with Krejci on the left wing. He’s looked good in the last few days. Sometimes a breather at this time of year isn’t the worst thing in the world, so he’ll have to get his timing back. But his legs sure look good. We’ll move Ryan [Donato] if that’s the way we go over to the left wing. We’ve done that with our players to different degrees of success, but I’ve found that with skill guys they can usually play the off-wing. Danton Heinen has played over there, so we can also drop [Donato] down to play with Nash and Backes.”

Charlie McAvoy and Zdeno Chara both skated at practice again on Friday with McAvoy ditching the no-contact jersey that he donned just one day prior. Both Bruins top pair D-men have been ruled out for Saturday’s game against the Panthers, but will take the road trip with the Black and Gold and haven’t been ruled out for Sunday’s matinee against the Flyers.

Sean Kuraly (upper body) and Rick Nash (upper body) were the only two injured Bruins players that didn’t participate in Friday’s practice.

Here are the projected Bruins line combos and D-pairings based on Friday’s practice: