( Photo Credit: Charles Krupa / AP )

By: Mark Allred | Follow Me On Twitter @BlackAndGold277

Rumor out of the Czech Republic is the National Hockey League Boston Bruins will keep forward prospect Jakub Lauko overseas for consistent ice time and continued development. This report comes from Martin Pesout, team manager of the HC ENERGIE KARLOVY VARY club that Lauko currently plays on. In an article from the hokejkv.cz website Pesout had the following quote below.

“David Kaše and Jakub Lauko remain in Karlovy Vary for the time being because they were not included in the basic staff of their teams in the NHL. We will see what happens when, or rather if, lower overseas competitions are launched.”

This is not a knock on the Bruins prospect at all, but with the uncertainty of an American Hockey League season, it makes a lot of sense to keep Lauko overseas until a clearer landscape of what’s going on in North America becomes more evident. In 16 games for his Karlovy team, the former third-round selection of the NHL Bruins so far has contributed 3-3-6 numbers since his loan to his native country. The 20-year-old 6′-0″ 170-pound forward had a tough first year of North American professional hockey last season (2019-20) with the top minor-pro affiliate of the Boston Bruins appearing in 22 games posting 5-4-9 numbers but was injured for a majority of his rookie season.

It’s a long shot that Jakub was going to make the NHL club even if he was to make an appearance for the Bruins in training camp, which is rumored to start on January 3rd, 2020, so international quarantining time could’ve also played a key factor in this decision. The AHL had their original December 4th, 2020, return to play pushed back to early February of the upcoming new year due to rising Covid-19 numbers and fans’ inability to attend games in a ticket sales-driven league. Once the AHL has a little more clarity on the 2021 regular season and if it’s actually going to happen, I’d expect Lauko and potentially others who are on loan overseas to appropriately quarantine in preparation for a North American return.

This most likely won’t be the only news about Bruins prospects that are on loan overseas. As the training camp roster could be released soon and additional members via a “taxi” squad, I can see players like Victor Berglund, Robert Lantosi, Oskar Steen, Nick Wolf, Joona Koppanen, and Cooper Zech to remain in Europe until reassigned.