Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm needs to find a way to get his third line going. The club has finally taken a look beyond their current NHL roster, with Lukas Reichel called up and set to make his Bruins debut to the left of Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie on the Black and Gold’s third line Thursday against the Jets.
“I told him the importance of what I want to see out of him, and to just be himself,” Sturm said of his message to Reichel, an emergency recall on Wednesday, following the morning skate. “I don’t want him to be a hero tonight. I don’t want him to be any different. He’s here for a reason: Because he will give us some speed and skill. Just looking forward to having him here and seeing him tonight in a Bruins jersey.”
Acquired from Vancouver at the trade deadline, Reichel did not come right to Boston and instead reported straight to AHL Providence. The thought there was that the Bruins wanted the German-born forward to get some practices under his belt, learn what he could about the system, and just get comfortable in a new environment. The word from those down in Providence was that Reichel had some great practices right off the bat.
And the results confirmed as much, as Reichel posted one goal and five points, along with a plus-6 rating, in just three games with the P-Bruins prior to the recall for this head-to-head at TD Garden.
“For me, try to bring the energy on the ice, a lot of speed,” Reichel said of what he can bring to the Bruins. “Just play my game, have fun, and win.”
A third-line landing spot is not the worst spot, but the Bruins are asking a lot out of Reichel in the sense that he’s here to try to help two slumping forwards get their game going. Neither Geekie nor Lindholm have posted a five-on-five point in the 11 games the Bruins have played coming out of the Olympic break. And both have demoted from Boston’s top line in the last week.
“I actually liked [Lindholm]’s game better the last few games, but I think [Geekie] needs to move his feet a little bit and focus a little on the grinding game instead of just scoring goals,” Sturm said of his third-line combo. “That’s something he has to learn, too. Hopefully Lukas will give them a little bit of speed and protection in getting pucks so they don’t have to go back for pucks all the time.”
Reichel, a first-round pick of the Blackhawks back in 2020, comes into action with two goals and five points in 19 games between Chicago and Vancouver this season, and 22 goals and 59 points in 188 career NHL games.
