The Bruins will be without James Hagens for at least a few games, as the team announced on Saturday morning that the rookie forward has been placed on injured reserve.
The B’s didn’t get into specifics about the injury itself, though we know when it occurred:
Given the area in which he was crosschecked, you can speculate on ribs, a bruised kidney, a back injury, etc., but the main takeaway
is that Hagens will now be out for at least seven days.
Marco Sturm, however, seems to think Hagens may miss a bit more time, telling the media today that he expects Hagens will be out “a few weeks.”
With Hagens on the shelf, the Bruins recalled forward Mikey Eyssimont, who has been on quite a heater down in the AHL.
Eyssimont leads the AHL in goals with 13 in eight games, including three hat tricks on the season.
His latest hat trick came just last night in Hamilton, as Eyssimont helped the P-Bruins erase a two-goal deficit with a natural hat trick in the last three minutes of the third period.
Eyssimont scored with 2:08, 1:08, and 25 seconds left to turn a 4-2 deficit into a 5-4 win.
You can certainly see why the B’s would turn to the hot hand to potentially fill Hagens’s spot.
Based on how he has played at the AHL level this season, Eyssimont certainly deserves some NHL ice time, even if it’s on a short-term basis.
Eyssimont put up 8G-10A-18PTS in 56 games with the NHL Bruins last season.
He appeared in two postseason games as well, recording no points.
With the Bruins off on Saturday and Providence playing relatively nearby in Hamilton, ON, on Friday, Eyssimont should be available for Sunday afternoon’s matinée game against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden.
