When David Krejci was injured back in February against the St. Louis Blues, the Bruins were in the midst of one of their worst slumps of the season. At the time, the trade deadline was looming and things looked to go from bad to worse for the Black and Gold without one of their top centers.

A few weeks later, Krejci started to skate with Bruins trainer John Whitesides as he continued to heal from his injury. On Tuesday, he stepped on the ice with his teammates for the first time since suffering a partially torn MCL in St. Louis.

“I feel confident that I’ll be back soon and I can still play a bunch of games,” Krejci told reporters after Tuesday’s morning skate. “So I’m sure I can use these to get myself ready for the playoffs.”

How soon will Krejci’s return be? According to Claude Julien, the Czech center could be back as early as this weekend.

“All I can say is probably closer. He was able to skate with us today because of line rushes and all that stuff. He’s progressing well,” the eighth year Bruins coach said to the media prior to Tuesday’s game vs. the Buffalo Sabres. “I don’t know exactly how close he is. Is he a possibility for the weekend? I think the earliest would probably be the weekend. The earliest, and maybe even more. ”

The bigger question for the Bruins is not when Krejci will return, but rather where he will fit in the B’s lineup whenever he enters the lineup.

Prior to his injury, Krejci was skating on a line with Milan Lucic and David Pastrnak.

Since Krejci’s absence, Ryan Spooner has filled in admirably for the Czech center and both Pastrnak and Lucic have benefited as well. Since they first skated as a unit on February 22nd in Chicago, the Lucic-Spooner-Pastrnak trio have combined for 26 points (10 G, 16 assists) in 11 games.

There’s always a chance for Krejci to reunite with Lucic and Pastrnak, but at the same time it’s hard to break up Lucic-Spooner-Pastrnak given their success over the last month.

“That whole line is playing well,” Krejci said about the Lucic-Spooner-Pastrnak line. “It takes pressure off of myself watching the games, and it’s great to see the guys doing well.”

“I’m open to whatever,” Krejci added. “I’ll play wherever coach [Julien] puts me, and I’ll try to do my best.”

A popular opinion is to put Krejci with Loui Eriksson and Carl Soderberg on the third line. That would evidently bump Chris Kelly down to the fourth line with Daniel Paille, Max Talbot or even Gregory Campbell.

Still, it’s up to Julien to decide how he wants to handle his roster. And he’ll have a few more games at least to evaluate his current lineup before he makes a decision where Krejci is placed.

“I’ve thought about it [but[ I haven’t made up my mind where and stuff like that,” Julien stated. “Instead of starting to speculate stuff like that, I could tell something today and may change my mind tomorrow. I’ve thought about it and it’s not easy.”