The Boston Bruins used the final stretch of the regular season to give some of the organization’s youth a crack in the NHL.
And the Bruins will give two more prospects a shot in Tuesday’s season finale against the New Jersey Devils at TD Garden.
The Bruins announced Monday they recalled forward John Farinacci and defenseman Frederic Brunet from Providence on an emergency basis and assigned forward Riley Duran and defenseman Michael Callahan to Providence.
Farinacci, who was originally drafted by the Arizona Coyotes in the third round in 2019, played the last two seasons with Providence after spending three years at Harvard. The 24 year-old New Jersey native tallied nine goals and 28 assists for 37 points in 57 games for Providence this season.
“With Farinacci, comes as advertised. Two-way player. Probably leans a little bit more to the defensive side,” Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco told reporters, per team-provided video. “Bottom-six, can kill some penalties. Be in that type of role.”
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Brunet’s development caught the eye of the Bruins brass. The 21-year-old defenseman, who was a 2022 fifth-round draft choice by Boston, is more “offensive-minded,” according to Sacco, but made strides playing in the defensive zone. He tallied five goals and 19 assists for 24 points in 68 games with Providence this season.
“Working a lot on my defensive side is what I’ve been working on and I think it’s got better over the last couple months,” Brunet told reporters, per team-provided video. “Obviously, I’ve had more responsibility with injuries, waivers and everything. So, I think getting more ice time, getting to play against the better players on the other side, just working on all the little stuff … with all the coaching staff in Providence, just getting me better to be a 200-foot player. I think as a D-man I need to be good at defending and that was a big flaw of mine. I think I worked a lot on it and I think I’m ready to go.”
Puck drop between Bruins-Devils is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. You can catch complete coverage of the game on NESN+.