Bruins make 2 call ups after sending 3 down yesterday.

It seems the Boston Bruins, and more specifically Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, have been juggling some players in an effort to keep things status quo as far as the salary cap is concerned. 

On Sunday we reported that the Bruins had sent 3 players down to the American Hockey League with those players being forward Paul Carey, forward Trent Frederic, and defenseman Urho Vaakanainen. All three men were sent down to Providence to join the baby Bruins and at the time I speculated that the moves could be linked to some potential returns from injury for the Bruins. Now however it does seem clear that these were moves based on the National Hockey League's salary cap, given the added context that we now have from the moves that were made on Monday.

According to an official announcement from the Bruins organization the team has now recalled two players from Providence, with those being the aforementioned Urho Vaakanainen as well as forward Brendan Gaunce. The return of Urho Vaakanainen certainly points to the fact that the moves were cap related, however the addition of Gaunce as opposed to say Carey or Frederic may simply be a matter of Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy wanting a different look this time around. 

This will be the first call up of the season for Gaunce and should he play it would be his first time in an NHL game as a member of the Boston Bruins. The former first round pick has appeared in 117 NHL games during his career already but all of those have been with the team that drafted him, the Vancouver Canucks. In 11 games at the American Hockey League level this season Gaunce has recorded 4 goals and 7 assists and boasts a plus minus rating of +4 with the baby Bruins.