Bruins forced make an emergency call up after McAvoy is pulled out of the line up.

The Boston Bruins have made an emergency call up after their surprise decision to send star defenseman Charlie McAvoy back home to Boston earlier today.

The Boston Bruins have officially announced that they have called up 19 year old defenseman Urho Vaakanainen to join the line up ahead of their Saturday night match up against the Vancouver Canucks. Although the Bruins did not officially announce that this was in response to McAvoy's departure back to Boston it doesn't take a psychic to put the pieces together here. 

From the Bruins official website:

Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney announced today, October 20, that the team has recalled Urho Vaakanainen from the Providence Bruins (AHL) on an emergency basis.

Vaakanainen has played in six games with the Providence Bruins this season, tallying two assists.

He spent the 2017-18 season playing for SaiPa in the Finnish Liiga, accumulating four goals and seven assists for 11 points in 43 games. His plus-eight rating led all SaiPa defensemen. He also competed in nine playoff games, tallying one assist. In 2016-17, Vaakanainen skated in 41 regular-season games for Liiga's JYP, earning a plus-five rating while producing two goals and four assists for six points. He played in 14 playoff games, picking up three assists and a plus-one rating in 14 games. In 2015-16, the 6-foot-1, 185-pound defenseman began his Liiga career with the Espoo Blues when he scored one goal and added five assists for six points in 25 games.

The Bruins depth on the blue line was further hurt on Saturday when the team also made the decision to send 30 year old blue liner Kevan Miller back to Boston as well. The Miller situation is a bit more concerning due to the fact that he is headed back to Boston to get x-rays on his hand after he blocked a shot earlier this week and suffered an injury in the process. 

There was some very serious concern regarding McAvoy's heart earlier today as some reports suggest that there was some concern his absence was related to the heart procedure he had earlier this year. That being said though Sportsnet NHL insider Nick Kypreos reported tonight that McAvoy's current condition is not related to his heart problems and given that update his situation sounds considerably less serious. Early reports suggested that McAvoy was not feeling well and the wording of those reports led me to believe that his absence was due to an illness and not due to a serious health condition. That being said, sending him back to Boston in the middle of a road trip does seem to suggest that whatever it is that is ailing McAvoy will require at least a few days of rest before he can return to the ice. 

It's obviously not great news for the Bruins but the fact that they will now get to test their 2017 1st round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft against NHL players this evening does add an extra layer of excitement to the game. The Bruins are obviously hopeful that Vaakanainen will be part of their future on the blue line and now he may get a couple of games to prove that he is worthy of that confidence.