Vatrano ‘trying to keep a good mindset' while on shelf with injury

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BRIGHTON, Mass. – Frank Vatrano wasn’t trying to hide the disappointment as he discussed the pre-training camp foot injury that will have him out until Christmas-time. The 21-year-old Bruins winger was poised to get a shot at a big top-6 role with Boston, and was sky-high in the confidence department after teaming with Auston Matthews as Team USA’s best offensive performers at last spring’s hockey world championships.

But then Vatrano came down with a couple of torn ligaments in his foot that he originally thought was just him “turning his ankle” while running, and now he’s in crutches with a boot on his foot for the foreseeable future. The hope is that Vatrano can hit the ground running once he is ready to go a few months from now, but that doesn’t settle the feelings that he’s missing out on something good right now.

It also leaves the B’s without a player that scored 44 goals between the NHL and AHL last season, and was going to be penciled in on the left wing with David Krejci if all went well in camp.

“I thought it was something minor, but then I came to see it was something a lot more serious. I thought I just rolled my ankle and that it wasn’t anything too serious, and was just going to take it day-by-day. Then I got X-rays and it wasn’t good,” said Vatrano, who said he’s waiting to get medically cleared for off-ice workouts. "That was obviously tough news to hear. I thought it was a rolled ankle, and didn’t even think it was a foot injury. So it was a freak accident.

“It’s obviously tough, but I’m looking forward to working even harder to get my spot back. I just need to keep a good mindset, not let myself get too frustrated and stay patient. I’d rather get injured at the beginning of the season than in the middle of the season, so you always have to look at the positive of it.”

Another positive with Vatrano’s absence: its opened the door for fellow young guys Danton Heinen, Austin Czarnik and Jake DeBrusk to compete for NHL roster spots, and for some - if not all - of them to start the season in Boston rather than Providence. The trick now for Vatrano is to make sure he’s back to dynamic goal-scoring form in December when he returns, so he can reclaim his potentially big role with the Black and Gold in his second NHL season. 

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