Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak could miss start of season after surgeries

The Boston Bruins confirmed on Tuesday that forwards Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak could miss the start of the 2020-21 NHL season after undergoing offseason surgeries. 

After Boston fell to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs, Marchand underwent a sports hernia procedure on Sept. 14. The 32-year-old is currently scheduled to be sidelined for approximately four months. 

Pastrnak, meanwhile, had a right hip arthroscopy and labral repair performed on Sept. 16. His timeline for recovery is five months from the date of the operation. 

Additionally, defenseman Charlie McAvoy has been cleared to resume normal offseason activities after he underwent a right knee arthroscopy on Sept. 8. 

NHL teams are permitted to open in-market training facilities on Oct. 15, but the league hasn't yet confirmed an official start date for the upcoming season. Jan. 1 is the tentative date to return to play, but the continued closure of the border that separates the United States and Canada complicates things with the league and NHL Players' Association not expected to agree on housing personnel inside temporary "bubble" sites for an entire campaign. 

As Bartley Kives of CBC News noted earlier this week, the NHL could create an all-Canadian division just for the upcoming season that would erase worries about teams traveling between the two countries. Depending on the states of the pandemic and world, the NHL could ultimately shift teams to bubble sites for a postseason tournament similar to how the league completed the 2020 playoffs.