BOSTON (CBS) – Johnny Boychuk is making progress towards a return to the Boston Bruins lineup, but he will not be on the ice Thursday night when the B’s host the New Jersey Devils.

The Bruins defenseman took part in an optional morning skate with his teammates Thursday, and stuck around for some extra work afterwards, but is still not ready to return after suffering a mild concussion Saturday courtesy of Ottawa’s Chris Neil.

“I’m feeling pretty good. Just got out there, got a skate in and we’ll see how I feel. Just going day by day, I guess,” Boychuk said. “You go out there and see how you feel and you can’t be nervous. You feel good then you feel good. If you don’t then you get off. We’ll see how I feel later on today.”

Read: Bruins-Devils Preview

“Hopefully if I feel good, then I’ll do the same thing tomorrow and hopefully progress,” he said.

Boychuk said he remembers the hit that sidelined him, and called it a clean play. He thanked Zdeno Chara as well, who dropped the gloves with Neil later in the game.

“He showed what a good captain is,” said Boychuk.

Down a defenseman, Claude Julien said Greg Zanon, acquired from the Minnesota Wild for Steven Kampfer at Monday’s trade deadline, will make his Boston debut Thursday night.

Read: Zanon Ready To “Grit It Out” With Bruins

Julien also announced that defenseman and deadline acquisition Mike Mottau will be a healthy scrath against the Devils.