Frank Vatrano Returns To Practice For Bruins
By Matt Dolloff, CBS Boston
BOSTON (CBS) -- Bruins forward Frank Vatrano returned to the ice for Tuesday's practice at the Warrior Ice Arena, heralding the imminent return of his some much-needed scoring touch to the Bruins lineup. The East Longmeadow, Mass. native partook in the morning skate wearing a red non-contact jersey.
Vatrano underwent surgery to repair torn ligaments in his left foot on Sept. 26. His initial timetable to return was set at around Christmastime, which still leaves 10 more Bruins games to go before then. It's unclear whether Vatrano is ahead of schedule in his recovery.
Vatrano entered training camp with a good chance to land a full-time spot on the Bruins roster - and an outside shot at a top-six role. One potential landing spot when he returns is on David Krejci's left wing. The spot has been a revolving door so far this season with Tim Schaller, Ryan Spooner, and Matt Beleskey all filling it at times. Beleskey will be out six weeks with a knee injury, which will only necessitate the need for a left-shot forward even more.
If Vatrano can't sneak onto Krejci's line, he'd add a much-needed offensive boost to the bottom-six forwards, most of which have played hard and forechecked well but haven't consistently found the back of the net. Vatrano was impressive on the offensive end as a 21-year-old rookie, netting eight goals on 99 shots in 39 games while averaging just 11:53 of ice time. So the hope is that he can put his foot injury behind him and continue to build off of that.
The Bruins have averaged just 2.2 goals per game in their last 10, but have won four of their last six and have gotten timely scoring from their top-end talent. Vatrano's imminent return would, at least, be a boost for the rest of the team in that department.
Matt Dolloff is a writer for CBSBostonSports.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect that of CBS or 98.5 The Sports Hub. Have a news tip or comment for Matt? Follow him on Twitter @mattdolloff and email him at mdolloff@985thesportshub.com.
