Riley Tufte, Vinni Lettieri, Patrick Brown, and Ian Mitchell, all called up from AHL Providence in the morning, should play in Raleigh.
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With enough new and different looks in their lineup to stage a “The Three Faces of Eve” remake, the bedraggled Bruins on Wednesday dutifully went through their paces in Brighton before chartering to Raleigh, N.C., for Thursday night’s matchup vs. the playoff-bound Hurricanes.
Riley Tufte, Vinni Lettieri, Patrick Brown, and Ian Mitchell, all called up from AHL Providence in the morning, mixed into the drills and, per coach Joe Sacco, should be in the lineup.
Forwards Georgii Merkulov and Jeffrey Viel, both of whom were with the varsity for less than a week, were sent back down to the WannaBs, each encouraged to work on his game, and be ready to answer another call to Causeway Street.
All the shuffling and reshuffling came in the run-up to Friday’s 3 p.m. trade deadline, and also less than 24 hours after general manager Don Sweeney
wheeled veteran winger Trent Frederic and prospect Max Jones to the Oilers. Another body or two could be on the move here in the twilight of the Black and Gold’s dull season.
It has been a long time since the Bruins and their fans have seen such uninspiring days. Statistically, the Bruins have yet to be eliminated from playoff contention. Realistically, ranked 12th in points percentage (.508) in the Eastern Conference as of Wednesday morning, their days are numbered. Sweeney and Co. soon will have to turn their attention on how to rework the roster prior to October’s puck drop and avoid a repeat.
The Bruins have gone a woeful 1-5-2 over their last eight games. Their goal differential fell to a season-worst minus-31 with
Tuesday night’s beatdown on home ice at the hands of the lowly Predators. They don’t score enough. They don’t defend well. Their goaltending, though still their strong suit, hasn’t been at a level to win games that otherwise shouldn’t have been won.
Put it all together and what do you get? A season pointed toward the franchise’s first playoff DNQ since 2016.
Now, amid mounting injuries to key veterans — Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy, and
Brad Marchand — they must resort to plugging in the aforementioned call-ups and keeping one and all focused on the present. In other words, pay no attention to all the trade talk and commotion behind the curtain.
The 6-foot-6-inch Tufte, once a first-round draft pick (Dallas, 2016), lined up at left wing in practice, joining linemates Elias Lindholm and Charlie Coyle. Sacco warned the media that the practice lines might not be what he rolls out in Raleigh, but if that’s where Tufte plugs in, Sacco knows what he’d like to see from the 26-year-old, who has played in only 23 NHL games.
“He’s a bigger body. I want to see him hang on to pucks in the offensive zone,” noted Sacco. “That’s something that we’re talking to our group about more — we need to be harder to play against in the offensive zone. We talk about being stingier all the time without the puck, but in the offensive zone we need to be able to hang on to pucks more and have the ability to create more zone time. I want to see him hang on to pucks. I want to see him get to the net front. I want to see him do the things we expect of a guy who’s 6-6, can use his size and ability to make plays offensively.”
It is Tufte’s fourth call-up this season and will be his sixth game in Black and Gold. Albeit with limited ice time, he did not register a point or land a shot on net in his previous five showings. Not hard to hear the message that Sacco was sending his way: Here’s the chance, get after it.
“I think we’re in a situation where we need wins right now,” said Tufte, who has delivered 18-13–31 in 42 games at Providence this season. “We need goals and we need to make plays out there, so I’ll try to do the best I can. The biggest thing for me is to go out there and not be afraid to make a mistake.”
