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Kalman: Unfortunate Vatrano Injury Opens Opportunity For Other Bruins

BOSTON (CBS) -- What are you doing for the next three months?

If you're Bruins forward Frank Vatrano, you'll be recovering from surgery to repair torn ligaments in your left foot. The Bruins announced Saturday that Vatrano, who injured his foot running prior to the start of Bruins training camp, will undergo surgery Monday.

Vatrano had eight goals and three assists in 39 games for the Bruins during his first pro season last year. He also led the American Hockey League with 36 goals in 36 games for Providence. With his performance last season, Vatrano reported to training camp this season with an inside track on a job as a top-nine forward in the Bruins lineup. Now the competition has opened up a little bit.

"Obviously, it's a blow," general manager Don Sweeney said. "Frankie looked at it as an opportunity; we all did. How that was going to play out remained to be seen, but he certainly was going to be put in a position to try to grab hold of it, so he's disappointed. We are, as well.

"We look at it, as all injuries are, as a setback. But the doctors feel very good that three months from now, he'll be returning to play and moving forward."

The 22-year-old might not be ready to return until Christmas time, or maybe he'll heal quicker. After such a long absence he could be headed for a conditioning stint with the P-Bruins at some point.

Although the situation is unfortunate for Vatrano, the Bruins might be able to get by without him. Now there's a better chance for other players to shine throughout the rest of camp.

Here's a look at who could benefit from Vatrano's injury:

  1. Danton Heinen

Everyone has been drooling over Heinen ever since the Bruins drafted him in the fourth round in 2014 and he put up 45 points in 40 games as a freshman at the University of Denver. He's shown improvement every time he has attended development camp and he was one of the standouts for the Bruins at the Prospects Challenge last week in Buffalo. The left-handed shot started training camp on David Krejci's left wing and now the 21-year-old, who left UD two years early, should get more reps and more of a chance to be an offensive force for the Bruins.

  1. Peter Mueller

Tryouts attend NHL camps knowing they're long shots to make the roster on opening night. But Mueller's odds got better now that there's one less player to compete against. The Bruins would rather their homegrown prospects fill the void, but Mueller, at 28, might be able to add some experience and buy time for others to get more seasoning. Mueller is a right-handed shot but he can play either wing.

  1. Matt Beleskey

Ideally, someday when the Bruins are strong contenders again, Beleskey is going to make a high-caliber third-line player. For now, he's going to have to play up and down the lineup while the Bruins look for the right personnel and the right line combinations. Depending on who wins the job on Krejci's right side, Beleskey might be the right fit to be a rugged, veteran presence on the left side. Playing higher in the lineup could give the 28-year-old a chance to improve on the 15 goals he scored last season and continue his late-blooming improvement.

  1. Mystery player

If you're Brian Ferlin, Peter Cehlarik (another player who impressed in rookie games), Sean Kuraly, Jake DeBrusk or Seth Griffith, you've got to be counting the number of competitors for jobs on the wing and realize this is a big chance. Sweeney is on record as saying the best players will play. Now there's one less best player available for Boston for nearly half the season, so this is a chance for someone to break through and either cement their spot in the NHL after several call-ups and demotions or increase the speed of their development by skipping some steps and stealing a job.

 

Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.

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