Pastrnak returns to practice with Bruins

David Pastrnak practiced with the Boston Bruins on Monday in Toronto, the hub city for the 12 Eastern Conference teams taking part in the Stanley Cup Qualifiers.

It was the first time the forward practiced with the full team since training camp opened July 13. He skated once with a smaller group July 15 but had been ruled "unfit to participate" since. He missed the first two days of camp because of international quarantine rules for players arriving from Europe, according to Bruins general manager Don Sweeney.

As part of the NHL Return to Play Plan, a team is not permitted to disclose player injury or illness information.

Coach Bruce Cassidy said before practice Monday that the Bruins were planning to reinsert Pastrnak on the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand after Anders Bjork skated in his place during camp. It is not known if Pastrnak will be in the lineup when Boston plays an exhibition game against the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday (7 p.m. ET; NHLN, TVAS, FS-O, NESN, NHL.TV).

"He looks great," Cassidy said. "Probably needs a haircut. Other than that, I expect him to be ready to go, excited to be back with his teammates. You know Pasta -- he loves the game, he loves being around his teammates, he's got lots of personality, very gregarious young guy. So it'll be good to have him back."

Pastrnak scored 48 goals this season, tying Washington Capitals forward Alex Ovechkin for the NHL lead. The 24-year-old scored an NHL-best 20 power-play goals and an NHL career-high 95 points in 70 games for the Bruins, who will play the Philadelphia Flyers (Aug. 2), Tampa Bay Lightning (Aug. 5) and Capitals (Aug. 9) in the round-robin portion of the Qualifiers at Scotiabank Arena to determine seeding for the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

Cassidy said that he anticipated Pastrnak's conditioning will be where the Bruins need it to be in the Qualifiers. Throughout camp, his linemates expressed confidence in their ability to rediscover their chemistry quickly once they're all on the ice together.

"We pick up where we left off," Bergeron said Monday. "He's going to have to get used to getting on the ice and skating and getting his rhythm back, his timing, all that. We're going to try to help him as much as we can. I don't know if he really needs all that much. He's one of those guys that gets back and he's so talented, it always seems effortless.

"So I'm expecting him to get back and obviously might be rusty a little bit, but that being said, we have a little bit of time before we start."

Zdeno Chara was held out of practice at the direction of Bruins medical advisers until they receive the results of a COVID-19 test given to the defenseman Sunday.

Forward Ondrej Kase is not in Toronto but is expected to join the Bruins at a later point, Cassidy said. Kase skated once during training camp, after the main practice session July 15, and has not been on the ice since.

Forward Nick Ritchie, who traveled with the Bruins on Sunday, missed his fourth straight practice.