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The Boston Bruins, left for dead more times than you can count this season, are slowly working themselves back into a favorable situation in the Eastern Conference. With points in three straight, and grabbing five of a possible six over that stretch, the Bruins enter this week with a three-point edge on the ninth-place Ottawa Senators (though the Sens have played one less game than the B’s) and a four-point edge on the 10th-place Florida Panthers, who will skate at TD Garden tomorrow night.
And there are more positives coming Boston’s way, too, with the word that the club is on the cusp of signing college free agent forward and University of Miami (Ohio) standout Austin Czarnik.
In four years with Miami, the 22-year-old recorded an impressive 46 goals and 169 points in 159 games, and finished this past season with a team-leading 45 points (nine goals and 36 assists) and nine multi-point contests. His 36 helpers this year were also good for fifth in the country, and made him a finalist for the National Collegiate Hockey Conference Forward of the Year award.
The Washington, Mich. native finished with collegiate career with a bang, recording four goals and five assists in six games between the NCHC playoffs, tournament, and NCAA Championships.
Czarnik has a link to the Bruins, too, as he was a teammate of Reilly Smith during Smith’s final collegiate season in 2011-12 (and actually finished second to Smith for the team’s scoring lead).
At 5-foot-9, Czarnik is far from what you’d consider your prototypical Bruin. But he’s quick, skilled, and a right-handed shot that they could view as a Johnny Gaudreau-esque fit for the Bruins’ top nine. Given the B’s unsuccessful pursuit of Columbus forward Cam Atkinson earlier this season, Czarnik seems like an easy secondary option for the Bruins, with the cost obviously being lower.
All that said, nothing is official just yet, of course.
But if Czarnik signs, you could expect him to finish the season with the Providence Bruins, and kickstart his pro career under the guidance of a Providence coaching staff that’s slowly churning quality undersized big-league talents both on defense and up front.
Ty Anderson has been covering the Boston Bruins for HockeyBuzz.com since 2010, is a member of the Pro Hockey Writers Association's Boston Chapter, and can be contacted on Twitter, or emailed at Ty.AndersonHB[at]gmail.com