Boston Bruins’ Brandon Carlo to miss rest of game vs. Avalanche with upper-body injury

The Boston Bruins have announced that defenseman Brandon Carlo will miss the rest of Monday’s game against the Colorado Avalanche due to an upper-body injury.

UPDATE: Brandon Carlo (upper body) will not return to tonight’s game.

— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) January 9, 2024

It’s unclear as to what caused the injury, as there was never a point where Carlo, 27, was favouring a certain part of his body, but he did take a couple of big hits in his final shift of the game midway through the second period. It’s unclear as to the severity of the injury or how long he may be out of the lineup as a result.

Carlo finished the game with an assist and a hit in 11:50 of ice time, with the game tied 2-2 when he left the game.

Carlo is currently having one of his better seasons in his career, with 2 goals and 8 assists for 10 points in 38 games this year. He’s currently on pace for 21 points in a full 82-game season, which would be a career-high for him and the first time he’s hit the 20-point mark in his career.

Since the start of the 2021-22 season, Carlo has not only been one of the best defensive defensemen in the league, he’s arguably been the best. In that time frame, he ranks first among all defensemen in defensive goals above replacement with 21.

Carlo was a second-round pick of the Bruins in the 2015 NHL Draft, and has spent the entirety of his eight-season NHL career in Boston.

Carlo is currently in the third year of a six-year contract with a $4.1 million cap hit, one he signed as a restricted free agent in the 2021 offseason after an arbitration filing.

The Bruins had won five of their last six games entering Monday’s game against the Avalanche, with their 24-8-6 record putting them in first place in the Atlantic Division.