David Pastrnak has no return timetable as Bruins mull sending him to AHL

Boston Bruins left wing David Pastrnak waits for the puck to drop. Charles KrupaAP

By Henry McKenna @McKennAnalysis

December 15, 2015

1 minute to read

David Pastrnak’s recovery from his broken foot has been slow for everyone involved.

But Pastrnak has been skating for a week, trying to get back into shape to make a return. His timetimable, however, is still unclear, Claude Julien told The Boston Globe.

“Just trying to go day-by-day and get back into shape and work hard,’’ Pastrnak told The Globe. “It’s been awhile, so it’s great to be back on the ice with the team.’’

The second-year winger injured his foot after a puck deflected off his skate during the Bruins’ October 31 win over the Arizona Coyotes. The play was seemingly routine, and Pastrnak played two games with the injury. Initial X-rays didn’t indicate a break, but a CT scan revealed a “small, non-displaced crack in an awkward location,’’ Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said.

Julien deferred to management when asked whether Pastrnak would make a trip to Providence for conditioning, and Pastrnak seemed open to it.

But he has been forced to lay off hockey until his foot is ready for contact, which hasn’t been easy for the 19-year-old from the Czech Republic.

“Especially for guys which don’t have families, they’re here by themselves. When you are injured, you just think how lonely the hockey is,’’ Pastrnak told The Globe. “So it’s tough, tough to be injured. You love the team, you’re with them every day, so it’s kind of something nobody wants to be [in], and hopefully the injury is going to be less and less.’’