One of the luxuries the Bruins have with David Pastrnak is the ability to send him down to Providence without having to place him on waivers. That’s exactly what they’re doing tonight as Pastrnak will join the P-Bruins in Springfield for their matchup with the Falcons.

Pastrnak was placed on injured reserve with a fractured foot and has not played since the Bruins’ Halloween matchup against the Tampa Bay Lightning where he tallied nine shifts in 7:41 of ice time.

The Bruins’ first round pick of 2014 practiced with his teammates for the first time earlier in the week.

“I was waiting for seven weeks to be with those guys on the ice,” Pastrnak told reporters after Monday’s morning skate prior to the Bruins matchup with the Oilers. “We are here together every day. So, it’s great I could join them at practice, and hopefully, it’s going to get better and better.”

For the first time since January, David Pastrnak will be in a Providence Bruins jersey when they travel to Springfield to face the Falcons tonight. (Photo by Angela Spagna, Bruins Daily)

Even with Providence, Pastrnak returning to game action is an encouraging sign. He’ll skate his first game for the Baby B’s since January, but he might not be there long. There’s a chance that the Czech winger will join his fellow countrymen for a conditioning assignment at the World Junior Championships in Finland that begin a week from Saturday.

“David tonight is going to play for Providence, and then a decision will be made concerning the World Juniors shortly after.”

With the holiday roster freeze set for midnight, that decision will have to come quickly for GM Don Sweeney, who hinted at the possibility of sending Pastrnak to the WJC in an interview with CSNNE Bruins Insider Joe Haggerty.

“The option is that he’s back to full…that’s first and foremost. He’s closing in on that. The next part is the conditioning element to this, and what’s best to get him back to full speed,” Sweeney told Haggerty. “The World Juniors are a component to this, but we’re looking at all options as to what’s available between now and when we would have to make a drop-dead decision based on the holiday roster freeze…”

Whether Pastrnak reunites with David Krejci and Loui Eriksson on the first line or skates with Ryan Spooner on the third line, Sweeney, Julien and company have plenty of options when Pastrnak returns to the lineup. That return may not come until January if Pastrnak plays in the World Juniors, which means he will miss this year’s Winter Classic.

It will surely take awhile for Pastrnak to get back up to speed, but he is one step closer to returning to the big club, and that’s an encouraging sign for a Bruins team that finds themselves three points behind the Montreal Canadiens for first place in the Atlantic Division.