Word On Ward

“He’s not going to make the trip to Florida, so (he’s) definitely out for this week” Coach Claude Julien said on Monday morning, speaking on Aaron Ward's injury suffered in Saturday's 4-1 rout of Detroit. This is the 2nd significant injury the Bruins have suffered on defense already and yet again they're going to have to rely on a Providence call-up to fill the role of a veteran. With Ward not making the trip to Florida the Bruins will need to make a call but it is still unknown if the Bruins will go with Matt Lashoff again or give new comer Johnny Boychuk a chance with the big club.

Boychuk, a 6'2 defensemen from Edmonton, Alberta is currently leading AHL defensemen in points, scoring 4 goals and adding 19 assists. He's also 3 points away from matching his point total from all of last season (26) in a little more than 1/3 of the time. Although it'd appear he's the clear candidate for the call-up one can't rule out Matt Lashoff, who only trails Boychuk by 7 points and has played in 4 less games. One thing hurting Boychuk's chances is his lack of NHL experience, playing in only 4 games while Lashoff's played in 30 career NHL games, all with Bruins posting a -7 and scoring 1 goal and 6 assists.

In my opinion I believe the call-up should go to Johnny for this road trip. This would be his first legitimate test with the Bruins as opposed to giving the opportunity to Lashoff again who's struggled when actually given the call. Especially with the team playing at the rate they are along with the rather soft road trip it wouldn't be a terrible time to try and mix it up.

Johnny Boychuk is currently the leading scorer in the AHL for defensemen.