The Bruins activated depth defenseman Alec Regula from season-opening injured reserve on Tuesday and subsequently placed him on waivers for the purpose of assignment to AHL Providence, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet reports.
Regula, 24, has yet to play this season after sustaining a knee injury over the offseason. It held him out of the entirety of Boston’s training camp and preseason schedule and earned him a non-roster designation when the regular season began.
It was an inauspicious start to the 2024-25 campaign for Regula, who spent all of last season in the minors after seeing NHL ice in his previous three professional seasons. Acquired from the Blackhawks in the 2023 Taylor Hall/Nick Foligno trade, Regula led the AHL last season with a +36 rating and added four goals and 26 points in 55 games for Providence, tying his previous career highs.
When Regula can expect to touch NHL ice next is anybody’s guess. The 6’4″, 211-lb righty made 22 NHL appearances while with Chicago, scoring one goal and logging a -5 rating while averaging 16:54 per game. Initially a 2018 third-round pick of the Red Wings, he’s firmly established himself as a top two-way threat at the AHL level, but has yet to demonstrate marginally positive possession impacts in his NHL minutes.
There are likely a few names ahead of Regula that are in line for a recall, namely Ian Mitchell, who leads Providence defenders in scoring with 13 points in 22 games. Whether or not he ends up seeing NHL action during the one-year, two-way deal he inked last summer remains to be seen, although a strong showing in his delayed start to the season should help him at least earn a qualifying offer at season’s end.