The Boston Bruins announced some bad injury news today, as Adam McQuaid has suffered a broken right fibula and will require surgery. The defenseman will have the surgery on Monday, and is out for approximately eight weeks. McQuaid broke the lower leg bone on Thursday night against Vancouver.
Losing McQuaid will put even more strain on a defense corps that is already relying on youngsters Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy. While he’s by no means an offensive dynamo, McQuaid has provided reasonably effective minutes for the team since entering the league in 2009-10. Without him, the team will likely have to turn to Paul Postma, who was signed this summer as a depth piece.
The team does have other young defensive prospects in Jakub Zboril, Matt Grzelcyk and Jeremy Lauzon, but inserting another rookie into the lineup on a full-time basis would be a tough ask. That said, Postma himself has a spotty record in the NHL during his career, and only really became a full-time option last season when he played 65 games for the Winnipeg Jets. The 28-year old has 191 games under his belt, but likely couldn’t take on big minutes on a nightly basis.
The Bruins evened up their record at 3-3 yesterday with a win over the Canucks, welcoming both Patrice Bergeron and David Backes back into the lineup. Bergeron made an immediate impact with four points, but the team is still dealing with injuries throughout their lineup. Ryan Spooner and Tuukka Rask are both out, and with McQuaid joining them the team’s depth at important positions will be tested.
I love the Quiader, but the guy is ALWAYS hurt.