Riley Nash, who has taken over Bergeron's spot as the bumper on Boston's top power-play to start the year, also took his place in the middle of Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak during Tuesday's practice. Ryan Spooner skated in that spot for a large chunk of the Bruins' first two games.
"He has a little bit of Bergy's flavor in terms of playing a 200-foot game, right stick, pretty accountable guy," said Cassidy. "Maybe he'd be a good fit with those two guys to give them a solid guy in the middle that will go to the net. I think that's what they miss right now. As much as you talk about his game, he drives the net and opens up ice for those two. That's what they need right now and they need to play a little more straight-lined as well."
Marchand, who has played alongside Bergeron for much of his career, has had to adjust to playing without his partner in crime.
"It's gonna happen where guys are in and out of the lineup," said Marchand, who tallied an empty-netter during the season-opener. "You have to be able to play with different players throughout the year, that's just the way it goes. We're still a really good team here.
"Obviously we'd love to have Bergy back in the lineup - it will happen here at some point. But we still have to build chemistry with whoever we're playing with and do the job."
With Bergeron to be sidelined against the Avalanche and his status for the remainder of the three-game road trip in question, Boston recalled forward Danton Heinen from Providence on Tuesday morning. The 22-year-old was one of the team's final cuts at the end of the preseason and could see playing time at some point during the trip.
"We're going on a trip, so we will need an extra as opposed to flying someone in if necessary," said Cassidy. "Danton had a real good training camp. Some kids were ahead of him, [Anders] Bjork and [Jake] DeBrusk…[Sean] Kuraly a little bit of a different animal.
"Would he be in tomorrow? We'll make that decision tomorrow. But we're not afraid to use him, I'll put it that way. I thought he was really good in training camp."
Heinen, who had an assist for Providence in its season-opener on Saturday, was pleased to return to the big club so quickly.
"You hate to see guys go down, but definitely happy to get the call," said Heinen "Just going to try to be assertive and fill any role that they want me to fill. That's my goal."
