Boston Bruins Defensemen Grzelcyk And Zboril Won’t Play Thursday

Boston Bruins defensemen Matt Grzelcyk and Jakub Zboril will not play when the Bruins host the New Jersey Devils Thursday night in their first home game since January 28.

Both players missed practice again Wednesday and afterward, Boston Bruins Head Coach Bruce Cassidy confirmed that Grzelcyk (lower-body) and Zboril (upper-body) won’t suit up Thursday but could very well likely miss the team’s outdoor match against the Philadelphia Flyers Sunday at Lake Tahoe.

“Zboril not on the ice, Gryzz, so they’re out tomorrow,” Cassidy said. “Sunday, see that’s tough. We’ll see where they are tomorrow, to say that they have a chance to play but if they don’t get on the ice pretty soon, it’s a long way to go for just one game. So then you start thinking ‘We don’t play again until the next Thursday in Long Island, so would we better off with them not playing and not taking them with us and just let them get better prepared? So that will be a discussion we’ll have to have internally about those two guys.”

Zboril was injured during the 4-2 loss to the New York Islanders on Saturday night and for the Boston Bruins rookie rearguard, this will be the first game he has missed this season. He has two assists in 14 games and is a plus 2.

For Grzelcyk, it’s just been a nightmare season injury-wise. The Charlestown, MA native and former Boston University star defenseman missed six of his team’s first eight games with a separate lower-body injury and an upper-body and now after returning from a seven-game stretch without playing on February 10, he will be missing his third straight game. Cassidy told the media on Monday that Grzelcyk was scheduled to have an MRI done but the Bruins bench boss was not asked for and did not reveal any results.

Here’s what the Bruins defense looked like at practice Wednesday:

Jeremy Lauzon – Charlie McAvoy

John Moore – Brandon Carlo

Connor Clifton – Kevan Miller

Extras: Urho Vaakanainen, Steven Kampfer