With a four-game, nine-day trip on the docket and just six healthy defensemen on the roster, the Bruins recalled young blue liner Jakub Zboril from Providence. Cassidy said he expects to go with the same pairings (Zdeno Chara-Matt Grzelcyk; Torey Krug-John Moore; Jeremy Lauzon-Steven Kampfer) as he did on Sunday night, but did not rule out Zboril playing at some point during the road trip.
"He moves the puck well," said Cassidy. "He's like a lot of young guys, he's had good games and games where he needs to be better. We brought him up because Carlo will miss at least Wednesday. On the trip, we want to make sure we're covered in case there's a sickness or an injury and the rest of the guys can't go on the weekend. So he'll travel with us."
It is the first recall for Zboril, who was drafted by the Bruins with the 13th overall pick in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft. The 21-year-old Czech native has played 81 games for Providence over the last two seasons, notching 6 goals and 17 assists to go along with a plus-8 rating.
"It just feels incredible, just being here, being part of this organization, finally getting called up," said Zboril. "It's a dream come true. Now just keep going at it and try to get that chance to play in a game."
Zboril has two goals and two assists in 13 games for the P-Bruins so far this season and said he is starting to find a groove after a shaky start to the year.
"My game felt pretty good," said the 6-foot, 200-pound left shot. "Didn't start off real well at the beginning of the season, wasn't really happy, coaches weren't happy, sat me down for a game…cleared my head and started playing a little different game with more pace, more urgency in my game."
With Tuukka Rask returning from his leave of absence on Tuesday, Daniel Vladar was assigned to Providence. It was also announced that Jeremy Lauzon and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson will remain with the team on regular recall.
