The Boston Bruins have sent Matthew Grzelcyk to the AHL, while also flipping around their injured reserve statuses. Noel Acciari and David Backes have been placed on IR, while activating Austin Czarnik and Torey Krug.
Grzelcyk suited up for Boston’s opener, but played just 12 minutes on the third pairing. The 23-year old has a bright future after starring at Boston University and finding success in his first season in the AHL last year, but will have to wait for another chance to present itself. With Krug’s return, the need for an undersized puck moving defenseman is filled.
Krug broke his jaw late in training camp, but thanks to a useful quirk at the beginning of the year will likely only miss one game. The Bruins opened their season on Thursday October 5th but haven’t played since. They’ll take on the Colorado Avalanche tonight.
Backes was diagnosed with diverticulitis and will miss several weeks, a rough start to what was supposed to be a bounce-back campaign for the 33-year old. Last season—the first of a five-year, $30MM contract—Backes recorded just 38 points, his lowest total in a full season since 2007-08. The Bruins will be paying him $8MM this season, before his salary starts to decrease in his front-loaded contract. Still, the $6MM cap hit the team will have to deal with for the next four seasons has to start paying dividends or it will seriously limit their salary structure.