Practice updates: David Pastrnak may return this weekend

The Bruins held a regular practice today after a deserved day off on Sunday.

The B’s will host the Pittsburgh Penguins for back-to-back games on Tuesday and Thursday of this week, and while it may not come in either of those games, there’s a big boost on the horizon: the return of David Pastrnak.

Pastrnak has been at Bruins practices for a while now, but the noticeable change was in the color of his jersey: standard white, as opposed to the non-contact red jersey he’s been wearing.

Bruce Cassidy said that the B’s will use this week to ramp Pastrnak up to full speed in practice, then see how he feels this weekend.

Cassidy anticipates Pastrnak traveling with the team this weekend, meaning an appearance on Saturday or Monday against Washington isn’t out of the question.

(For those looking to create line controversy, Cassidy also said that Pastrnak would be back at 1RW when he returns.)

For his part, Pastrnak is happy with his decision to go under the knife, saying:

“I’m so happy I’ve done it. It’s wonderful skating on the ice now pain-free.”

If Pastrnak and Brad Marchand had been dealing with nagging issues for a while, it’s wild to think what that trio might look like at full health.

Elsewhere on that line, Patrice Bergeron didn’t practice today, but Cassidy expects him to be OK to play tomorrow.

He echoed those sentiments for Matt Grzelcyk, who missed Saturday’s game after getting dinged up two games in a row.

Grzelcyk will likely see how he feels pregame tomorrow, and the team will go from there.