The Bruins announced four roster moves this morning, including the news that center Casey Mittelstadt has been activated from injured reserve and will play in today’s matinee against the Rangers. With news from head coach Marco Sturm today that top-six forwards David Pastrňák and Pavel Zacha sustained minor injuries in Wednesday’s win over the Islanders and are out day-to-day (via Scott McLaughlin of WEEI), Boston also recalled forward Georgii Merkulov from AHL Providence. The Bruins opened two roster spots by placing winger Matěj Blümel on long-term injured reserve and reassigning defenseman Michael Callahan to Providence.
Mittelstadt’s appearance today is his first after a nine-game absence. He’s been listed as week-to-week since sustaining a lower-body injury on Nov. 6.
Getting one top-six forward back is a key bit for a team that just lost two of its three top scorers, particularly if Pastrňák and Zacha will miss any significant length of time. Mittelstadt is in his first full season with the B’s after being acquired for Charlie Coyle from the Avalanche at last year’s deadline. He hasn’t been offensively overpowering since his arrival. He’s posted an 8-7–15 scoring line with a -17 rating in 33 appearances, including nine points in 15 games this year. That’s below his career-average pace of 15 goals and 44 points per 82 games.
It’s a rushed return for Mittelstadt, who didn’t even take a full practice before re-entering the lineup today in the wake of Pastrňák and Zacha’s injuries. Before getting hurt, he had shifted to the wing on a line with Zacha and Viktor Arvidsson. That line had outscored opponents 8-4 at 5-on-5 and controlled 50.6% of shot attempts. He won’t have either of them to skate with today, though, as Arvidsson’s been on injured reserve since Nov. 17 and is out indefinitely. He’s skating on a unit with Marat Khusnutdinov and the hastily recalled Merkulov.
Merkulov, 25, has been one of Boston’s top minor-league producers for years but has never landed an extended NHL opportunity. An undrafted free agent signed out of Ohio State in 2022, he’s got just one assist in 10 NHL games to date despite getting a decently long leash, averaging 12:28 of ice time per game. The playmaking pivot has never registered under 50 points in an AHL season and is again on track to pass that plateau in 2025-26. Through 17 appearances for Providence, he’s rattled off six goals and eight assists for 14 points to sit third on the team in scoring. He now has a 76-117–193 scoring line in 218 career AHL games, putting him seventh in the league in scoring since his rookie year in 2022-23.
The Bruins had already said Blümel would miss significant time. The 25-year-old winger, who was also a relatively recent recall from Providence to compensate for the Bruins’ bevy of injuries to their forward group, left Wednesday’s game in the first period with a lower-body injury. An LTIR placement means Blümel is ineligible for the next 10 games and 24 days. The earliest he can return is Dec. 20 against the Canucks. Despite seeing first-line minutes with Pastrňák and Zacha, he’d gone without a point and had a -3 rating in four games since his call-up.
Callahan has served as an extra defenseman for the B’s for a good chunk of the season as Hampus Lindholm, Charlie McAvoy and Jordan Harris have each dealt with long-term absences. He’s a luxury they can’t afford to roster with Pastrňák and Zacha not expected to be out long enough to warrant an IR placement. Once the Bruins can return a forward to Providence, he’ll likely find himself back up in the NHL.