The Boston Bruins and their American Hockey League club, the Providence Bruins, were rather busy on Tuesday morning with transactions on the NHL and AHL transaction wires.
The Providence Bruins confirmed the recall of goaltender Kyle Keyser from the Maine Mariners, their ECHL affiliate, early Tuesday morning. In the minutes that followed, the Bruins sent injured defenseman Derek Forbort to the Providence Bruins for conditioning, and an hour later, they recalled forward Jayson Megna and sent rookie forward John Beecher on loan.
The trade of Beecher for Megna caused quite a commotion among Boston Bruins supporters on social media. This is because Beecher, known for his exceptional faceoff skills, had seemingly reestablished himself in the Bruins’ lineup as the season came to a close. This past Saturday, the Bruins debuted new winger Pat Maroon, making veteran James van Riemsdyk the odd man out. The Beecher for Magna trade could be a signal that the Bruins want to give van Riemsdyk one more shot to find his game before the 2024 Stanley Cup playoffs begin this Saturday and the team’s final regular season game against the Ottawa Senators on Tuesday night. Instead of sitting in the press box, the Bruins would prefer it if Beecher played significant hockey in Providence if van Riemsdyk gets it going again.
With seven goals and three assists in fifty-two NHL games and four goals and four assists in seventeen AHL games this season, the 23-year-old Beecher returns to Providence.
With the Providence Bruins this season, Megna, who is 34 years old, has 67 games played with 18 goals and 33 assists.
Derek Forbort, meanwhile, has been out with an injury since the NHL Trade Deadline on March 8. General manager Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins hinted that Forbort was out for the season in his press conference held after the deadline.
“People should realize that Derek has been playing through two significant injuries,” Sweeney noted on March 8. “One for sure is requiring surgery, and the other is one that quite possibly could. So true kudos and respect to the character of Derek, and wanting to be the ultimate team player and play despite some significant pain and injury. But it reached to a point where it was not practical for him to continue to play.”
Sweeney was then questioned if the 32-year-old rearguard’s season was gone.
“Yeah, more than likely,” he said.
However, for the last two weeks, Forbort has been skating practically every day, and Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery has not ruled out a comeback if the Bruins go deep into the playoffs. Forbort has four assists in 35 games this season
