Bruins Injury Updates: When Will Matt Grzelcyk Return?

The Boston Bruins could be getting a defenseman back soon.

Following practice on Wednesday, Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery confirmed that the Bruins are targeting their 1 p.m. (ET) matinee at Madison Square Garden on Nov. 25.

“Grizzy comes off [the injured list] for the Ranger game, and we think he will be available,” Montgomery told reporters.

Grzelcyk went down with an upper-body injury during the second period of the Bruins’ 3-2 overtime win over the Florida Panthers on Oct. 30 and hasn’t played since. The 29-year-old potential 2024 unrestricted free agent has missed six games and will have missed ten games by the time he returns. Grzelcyk has just one goal in nine games this season, usually skating on the top pairing with former Boston University defensive partner Charlie McAvoy.

As of Thursday, the Boston Bruins had $2.6 million in cap space. If Grzelcyk returns to the lineup in New York, then the Bruins will need to make room for him on the roster and accommodate his currently $3.6 million salary cap hit.

As for forwards Milan Lucic and Morgan Geekie, it appears to be status quo.

“Looch, we don’t have a timeline definitively yet,” Montgomery said of Lucic. “And Geekie is going to be, at best, another week, but don’t hold me to that.”

On Monday, Montgomery informed reporters that Lucic had suffered a setback rehabbing his injured ankle and would not return to the lineup as soon as originally expected.

“Looch is not going as quick as we expected, so he’s maybe a week behind where we expected, but it’s not dramatic,” Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said after practice on Monday.

Milan Lucic has not played since Oct. 21, when the Bruins beat the Kings 4-2 in Los Angeles. Late in that game, Lucic took a Derek Forbort slapshot off his ankle area. The next day, the Bruins were in Anaheim to play the Ducks, and Lucic took one whirl in warmups and did not return to play in the Bruins’ 3-1 win over the Ducks. The 6-foot-3, 236-pound winger was placed on long-term injury reserve on Oct. 27 and is eligible to come off LTIR on Saturday when the Bruins host the Montreal Canadiens, but that clearly isn’t happening.

Lucic has two assists in four games with the Bruins this season after signing back with the team that drafted him in the second round (50th overall) of the 2006 NHL Entry Draft.

After suffering an upper-body injury, Geekie was placed on injured reserve on Nov. 9 and has missed two games thus far.