Back from China, B's Making Adjustments

Boston Bruins Training Camp is presented by AT&T.
BOSTON - For the first time in nearly two weeks, the Bruins had a full complement of players at Warrior Ice Arena. While the group was still separated into two groups, the players were enthusiastic about being back under one roof.

"It's so, so nice," Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy said of being back with the full team. "It's great. You miss these guys. A lot of them just got back, so maybe I saw a couple of them. A couple I didn't even see because it was my first time in the rink. It's good to all of us to be back. A couple guys obviously going to play this afternoon. But we're all here, we're all walking around, all saying hello to each other, it's good to be under one roof."

While McAvoy originally hails from New York, he was excited to be back to where he calls home in Boston.

"It was a really great day just to get back," said McAvoy. "This is home, feels like home to be out there and see the rest of the guys who I missed a lot, and we made ourselves better today."

Sleeping it Off

Beijing is a 12-hour time difference from Boston. Players and coaches who have just spent the past 10 days on the other side of the world have had some adjusting to do to get back to a normal schedule. One of the biggest challenges has been sleep.

"I find it's hard to sleep through the night right now," said Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy. "I think all the coaches have said the same. I think we've all been in here at around quarter to six on the bike which is nuts to be honest with you. I guess it is what it is."

Bruins players have faced similar challenges with the adjustment.

"It's been OK," said forward Brad Marchand. "I've had better sleeps, but it's nice to be back home. It makes it a lot easier to try to transition back when you're getting your legs back and just feeling good again."

McAvoy believes the adjustment of returning home is not as challenging as the initial one when they arrived in China.

"I think China, for sure," said McAvoy when asked which adjustment was more difficult. "Here you at least feel like you're home. It's also only been a couple of days. It's hard. I feel like in China the first 48 I was fine, I felt great, and then it was like shock to body. You realize where you are, and then you start to feel a little bit messed up. Hopefully, I won't have to go through that here, but like I said it's really good to be home."

For David Pastrnak, the solution has been to get as much rest as possible.

"I've been sleeping a lot the past couple of days," said Pastrnak. "Trying to get back my body to this time. It's good to be back."

Top Six Comes Into Focus

The competition for the open top-six right wing position appears to be coming into focus, with two candidates elevating themselves.

"We're looking to fill that spot," said Cassidy. "Danton Heinen has looked real good from what I've been told. I haven't seen him, but we will tonight with [David Krejci]. [Heinen and Ryan Donato] are probably option A and B right now to play on that side."

Donato had a brief stint in Boston at the end of the 2017-18 season and appears to have improved in the offseason.

"He's had a little more experience under his belt," Cassidy said of Donato. "He had a good summer training, looks stronger, faster, so all those things that maybe in tight spaces he'll be stronger on pucks on that off side. But we'll see. It's been a small sample size, he's been fine so far. I think one thing about Ryan is he just plays. He doesn't overthink what side of the ice he's on.

"His strength is still offense and he's been producing that no matter what side. I guess it's for the little things, taking passes on your backhand, taking pucks off the wall. Until he plays a few more games, it's probably tough to truly say he's better on one side or the other."

Nearing Full Force

While the team is back from their overseas adventure, the Boston and China groups have yet to fully integrate on the ice.

"Some guys are still out," said Cassidy. "Injured or under the weather. Progressing towards that but really not all together - the team isn't all together as one. Really until we're truly together it's hard to get excited about that part."

The group of players battling some sort of injury or illness includes Patrice Bergeron, Noel Acciari, Torey Krug, Noel Acciari, Sean Kuraly, Joakim Nordstrom, Jakub Zboril, Ryan Fitzgerald and Jakub Lauko.

"We have to get through these next three or four days and evaluate these guys who we haven't seen," said Cassidy. "We've talked about how we'd like to structure it. Get down to most of our team, one group Tuesday where we look like we're going to start the year with. There are always going to be a few guys battling it out in those last two exhibition games would be more of a look. But then you're talking about getting Acciari in games, Kuraly, Bergeron, Krug. There are a lot of guys who haven't played yet.

"For us, we're still a long way from that point. It's hard to get that excited until all those guys are cleared and ready to go."

Marchand recognizes the importance of the next few days of training camp.

"We really have to bear down in the next 10 days to get ready for the season," said Marchand. "It's been very light up to this point, so we have to make sure we bear down and get the work in while we can."

Projected Lineup

Cehlarik - Krejci - Heinen
Hughes - Cave - Stempniak
Bakos - Winnik - McNeil
Blidh - Pond - Senyshyn

Chara - Andersson
Johansson - Kampfer
Lauzon - Goloubef

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