Injured Boston Bruins Zboril, Miller Trending Toward A Return

It looks like Boston Bruins defenseman Jakub Zboril might be headed toward a return for a banged-up B’s defensemen corps.

The 23-year-old defenseman skated at Tuesday’s Bruins practice at Warrior Ice Arena with a burgundy no-contact sweater and should be a full participant starting on Wednesday provided he continues to feel healthy. David Krejci (lower body) wasn’t able to practice and was a little further back in his recovery timetable, but Matt Grzelcyk (lower body) skated on his own with skating/conditioning coach Kim Brandvold ahead of Tuesday’s practice.

Kevan Miller (rest/load management) was a full participant at Tuesday’s practice after missing last weekend’s win over the Flyers at Lake Tahoe, while giving his knees a rest, and appears to be tracking toward a return to the lineup Thursday night against the New York Islanders. There was no update on Jeremy Lauzon after he was knocked out of Sunday’s outdoor win over the Flyers, but he was not among the Boston Bruins players on the ice practicing with the rest of the group. So that would put doubt into his availability for Thursday vs. the Islanders as well.

“Zboril skated. Grzelcyk skated early. If [Zboril] feels good in the morning he’ll practice with our group tomorrow with no restrictions,” said Bruce Cassidy. “Krejci did not skate, so he’s a little further away. Kevan Miller was out there, so that’s a good sign.

“Looking forward let’s see who gets through practice tomorrow, but obviously Miller and Zboril are trending better than the others.”

In essence, it looks like Miller and Zboril may be trending toward a potential return to the lineup while Grzelcyk, Krejci and Lauzon appear to be further away from a return. Here’s the Boston Bruins players that were present for Tuesday’s practice with a couple of days to prepare for their next road trip to New York: Charlie Coyle, Nick Ritchie, Chris Wagner, Craig Smith, Anders Bjork, Jack Studnicka, Trent Frederic, Karson Kuhlman, Greg McKegg, Charlie McAvoy, Kevan Miller, Connor Clifton, Zboril, Urho Vaakanainen, Steve Kampfer, Jaroslav Halak and Callum Booth.