The defenseman was called up from AHL Providence on Dec. 14 and is skating on the third pair with Kevin Shattenkirk.
Parker Wotherspoon has stuck around in the American Hockey League for eight years, and now, he’s making a real impact at the NHL level for the Boston Bruins.
The 26-year-old defenseman inked a one-year, two-way contract with the B’s in July after spending his entire career with the New York Islanders organization – specifically the AHL’s Bridgeport Islanders – which drafted him in the fourth round of the 2015 NHL Draft.
When healthy, the Bruins’ backend slotting has close to no room for change. However, the team has been riddled with injuries in the first third of the season, giving players like Wotherspoon a chance to earn meaningful minutes.
“I think he’s played great. He’s physical and I think the coaches have really liked that about him,” Kevin Shattenkirk, who has skated on the third pair with Wotherspoon, said Thursday.
“Seems to understand how we play the game here and how our systems work. I think he’s filling in a hole on the backend that’s tough to fill.”
Wotherspoon was called up from AHL Providence on Dec. 14 when Charlie McAvoy was placed on injured reserve with an upper-body injury. When McAvoy returned to the lineup Tuesday, though, Wotherspoon remained – it instead was Mason Lohrei who sat.
In his three most recent games back with the Bruins, Wotherspoon has added sandpaper to Boston’s blue line. While he’s not the biggest body out there – standing at 6-foot-1, 195 pounds – Wotherspoon’s physicality and snarl has been noticeable.
“One thing he does is he has an energy about him,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Tuesday. “He has a positive energy where he elevates the mood on the bench, he elevates the mood in the dressing room. You know that he’s a guy that’s going to be there for you.”
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney was familiar with Wotherspoon’s style of play before signing him because Providence and Bridgeport play against each other often. Wotherspoon fed into Bridgeport’s “aggressive to defend” identity, and has carried it over with him to Beantown.
“He just brings a little more bite,” Sweeney said Monday. “We just started to appreciate his game more and more. You never know how it applies when you bring him in your own organization – you hope the attributes continue to shine.”
Wotherspoon has logged hefty ice time in the last three contests: 14:54 on Tuesday against the Minnesota Wild, 19:02 on Saturday against the New York Rangers and 19:19 on Dec. 15 against the Islanders. What’s more, Wotherspoon has been a nice addition to the second penalty kill unit – swapping places with Lohrei.
The Bruins may be down another defenseman heading into Friday’s road game against the Winnipeg Jets. Matt Grzelcyk did not practice with the team Thursday after sustaining an upper-body injury early in Tuesday’s game. Montgomery said Grzelcyk was day-to-day and is a possibility to play Friday.
There’s no timeline to Wotherspoon’s NHL stay – and no controlling the outside circumstances that allow it – but the defenseman has lightened the Bruins’ injury burden, and for now, has earned his keep.