Boston Bruins Recall Renouf Amidst Carlo Upper Body Injury

In a sign that Brandon Carlo may not be returning quickly after suffering an upper body injury on Saturday night, the Boston Bruins have recalled defenseman Dan Renouf from the Providence Bruins. Carlo, who has an unfortunate long history of concussions, suffered an upper body when he was on the receiving end of a heavy check from Arizona’s Liam O’Brien that knocked him against the side boards and glass, and didn’t return to the 6-3 win over the Coyotes after exiting in the first period on Saturday night.

Here is the hit that Brandon Carlo took from Liam O’Brien. Carlo will miss the remainder of the game. #NHLBruins

pic.twitter.com/FW1PQatHB4

— Short Handed Takes: Bruins 🅿️odcast 🎙 (@ShortHandedTks) October 16, 2022

The Carlo injury might be a spot for the newly signed Anton Stralman, but he is still being held up by visa issues that the Boston Bruins have been trying to sort out over the last week.

The Boston Bruins managed to get through Saturday night with five defensemen, but will need the 6-foot-3, 201-pound defenseman for this busy week of action with games against the Florida Panthers, Ottawa Senators, Anaheim Ducks and Minnesota Wild. Renouf was one of the final Boston Bruins players cut from NHL training camp and has 23 games of NHL experience for the Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings with three assists during those games.

It’s a big loss for the Boston Bruins, obviously, with Carlo playing on the top pairing with Hampus Lindholm with Charlie McAvoy out of the lineup while recovering from shoulder surgery, and a big part of Boston’s penalty kill group with his long reach and big stick while standing 6-foot-5. The 28-year-old Renouf had three goals and 14 points along with a plus-14 rating in 63 games for the Grand Rapids Griffins last season.

The Boston Bruins practiced on Sunday at Warrior Ice Arena and Carlo was not on the ice for the team practice, joining Jake DeBrusk as the newly injured and missing after getting dinged up with the big hit this weekend.

Carlo has four penalty minutes and a plus-1 rating in two games thus far this season for the Boston Bruins, but the big picture concern for him is that the stay-at-home defenseman may have suffered another concussion based on the impact and the way Carlo exited the game afterward. That could lead to a longer absence based on the number of head injuries the 25-year-old Boston Bruins defenseman has been forced to deal with over the last few seasons.