Bruins Activate Lauko; Place Geekie On Injured Reserve

In another sign that Boston Bruins forward Jakub Lauko is getting closer to being cleared for game action, the Bruins announced on Thursday that Lauko has been activated off of injured reserve.

The Boston Bruins also announced that forward Morgan Geekie will be taking Lauko’s place on injured reserve after recently suffering an upper-body injury.

Per PuckPedia, after these two transactions, the Bruins are currently $1.9 million under the $83.5 million, with winger Milan Lucic still on long-term injury reserve.

Jakub Lauko will not be in the lineup on Thursday night when the Bruins host the New York Islanders, but the Bruins activating him to the roster on Thursday could mean he may be playing sooner than expected. Following practice on Wednesday, Montgomery expressed caution on putting a timetable on a return to game action for the 23-year-old forward.

“Lauko’s just starting his stage or process of getting back,” Montgomery told the media on Wednesday. “He’s definitely out for [Thursday], and we’ll see how he progresses from there.”

Lauko has been out since he took a skateblade to the face in the third period of a 3-0 Bruins’ win over the Chicago Blackhawks on Oct. 24. That left Lauko with an ugly shiner and two facial fractures, but thankfully he came away with his sight still.

“It feels good,” Lauko replied on Wednesday when asked how his eye felt. “I’m just grateful that I can be here now. Because it was a close call, it was very close to the eye. It missed the eye, literally, by millimeters.”

“After the experience with the eye and after what happened in England, it’s too much of a risk,” Lauko pointed out on Wednesday. “When you can put something on the neck, it’s always better. It’s the most vulnerable spot for us on the body. So I’m going to start wearing neck guards and wrist guards, too. Just adding some layers of protection on those places that are on the line. It’s always better to be ready than sorry. I’ll wear the neck guard, I think, for the rest of my career.”