Bruins get bad news on veteran center

Boston Bruins center Morgan Geekie is listed as week-to-week with an upper-body injury, Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald reports. In addition, defenseman Derek Forbort is questionable to return for Thursday’s game against the New York Islanders after missing the last three contests with an undisclosed injury.

Geekie, 25, is in his first season with the Bruins after signing a two-year, $4M deal in free agency. The former Carolina Hurricane and Seattle Kraken had recorded a goal and two assists through 12 games this season, averaging 14:14 per game.

It’s unclear when Geekie suffered the injury, as he didn’t appear to miss a shift during the Bruins’ last game, a 3-2 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday. It’s a tough break for the Manitoba-born forward, who was seeing increased ice time compared to years past and playing a solid possession game.

In terms of replacement options, winger Jakub Lauko returned to practice today as he works his way back from a skate cut sustained last month, but he remains on injured reserve. If he’s not ready to go for Thursday's game against the Islanders, veteran Patrick Brown will draw into the lineup and make his sixth appearance of the season. He’s still looking for his first point as a Bruin after joining the team in free agency and has a -1 rating while averaging just 8:54 per game thus far in 2023-24.

A potential return for Forbort would certainly be a boon to the Bruins’ penalty kill, but they’ve done well in his absence, killing off 11 out of 13 penalties in the last three contests. If he’s able to play, Forbort would likely replace recent AHL call-up Parker Wotherspoon on the team’s third pairing alongside Kevin Shattenkirk. Wotherspoon, 26, has logged one assist in three outings.