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David Pastrnak has returned to practice, but he's not in game shape yet. So, the usual thing for a team to do is to send them to the farm team to play for a little while. It's in the CBA that you can do this, in Article 13.8, "Conditioning Loan":
Unless a Player consents, he shall not be Loaned on a Conditioning Loan to a minor league club. Such Conditioning Loan shall not extend for more than fourteen (14) consecutive days. The Commissioner may take whatever steps he deems necessary to investigate the circumstances under which a Player is Loaned on a Conditioning Loan. If the Commissioner has reason to believe or determines that the Club has used the Conditioning Loan to evade Waivers, or otherwise Circumvent any provision of this Agreement, he may take such disciplinary action against the Club, as he deems appropriate. The Player shall continue, during the period of such Conditioning Loan, to receive the same Paragraph 1 NHL Salary, and be entitled to the same benefits, that he would have received had he continued to play with the Club.
But, he's still young enough to qualify for a trip to Finland and Sweden and play for the Czech World Junior team. The tournament would take about the same amount of time - the World Junior Tournament starts December 26, and the gold medal game is January 5th. The Bruins have been asked about it a bit already, but haven't said anything:
GM Don Sweeney was asked about Pastrnak's status in regards to availability for World Jrs;said it hasn't been ruled out. Stay tuned for more
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) December 17, 2015
Which would you prefer? Providence or Europe?