By JoeHaggerty
CSNNE.com
Nothing definitive has been decided with Marc Savard this season.
The 32-year-old center has been convalescing in his hometown of Peterborough, Ontario, over the last 10 days as he continues to battle headaches and irritability brought on by his fourth concussion in the NHL, suffered at the hands of Matt Hunwick in Colorado.
Sources within the Bruins have confirmed to CSNNE.com that shutting Savard down for the remainder of the year has been a topic of discussion in the front office.
But nothing can be determined about Savards fate until he again sits down with doctors for another round of testingwhich could happen as quickly as Thursday.
Even so, the Bruins have to carry on with the rest of the season. They've got 31 games remaining and are sitting comfortably among the top three teams in the Eastern Conference headed down the stretch run to the playoffs.
Essentially, the Bs have to play as if Savard isnt going to return this year.
Boston Bruins
If thats the case, the Bruins are inclined to look within the organization to fill the void created by Savards absenceand that starts with centers David Krejci and Tyler Seguin raising their games.
Patrice Bergeron is already doing his fair share. He appears to be everything he was before his own concussion, and then some, as he now has NHL experience on his side.
But the Bruins can certainly receive more from Krejci and Seguin.
Krejci actually refined his playmaking skills in the weeks leading up to the All-Star break, and has nine assists in his last 10 games with a plus-4. That elevated play, along with the reformed Krejci-Milan Lucic-Nathan Horton line riding together again, is exactly what he needed to get his game going.
He also hit his stride right around this time last season, and that trend needs to continue if Krejci is expected to be the teams top playmaker and power-play architect from the half-wall.
Its more exciting now. Before the All-Star break youre just kind of playing games and thats all, said Krejci. But now youre playing teams and youre starting to look at the standings, and everybody is playing for something.
Everybody wants home-ice advantage for the playoffs so everything starts to get more exciting. Its fun.
Then there's Seguin.
The rookie hasnt scored a goal in the last eight games, and is finding himself on the bench in the third periods of tight games in a crossroads portion of the season. Now that the pace has quickened and the pressure has heightened, Seguin needs to rise to the level.
The 19-year-old seems to have curbed some of his offensive instincts after being given a reduced role, with little to no power-play time, over the last month, and more than anything else needs to play with the confidence that allows his speed and skills to emerge.
While the public is clamoring for a stop-gap veteran solution should the Bruins need another forward to replace Savards missing offensive punch, the answers wont be coming from a trade at the forward spot.
The answers will be coming from within the organization, whether its someone on the current roster or from the P-Bruins.
I think weve got a lot of guys playing wing that we would feel pretty comfortable with playing center, said coach Claude Julien. Blake Wheeler is one of those guys, and Brad Marchand has played center before. Were not stuck in that area. We also have some prospects down in Providence that we feel will play in the NHL someday down the middle. We dont feel like depth is an issue at that position.
To wit about the P-Bruins: Joe Colborne remains a first-round talent, and the Bruins are expecting him to continue to improve in his first full year as a pro. Jordan Caron has already proven he can be a reliable player in the NHL, with a high ceiling. Zach Hamill -- who was beginning to get written off in some corners as afirst-round bust after having an unimpressive training camp with a jobpotentially available last fall -- is back on the Bs radar after really finding his game at the AHL level in his third season.
The Bruins will search for a mobile defenseman in the next few weeks. But life without Savard begins with an examination of the options within Bostons own organization.
Joe Haggerty can be reached at jhaggerty@comcastsportsnet.com.Follow Joe on Twitter at http:twitter.comHackswithHaggs