Chris Kelly broke his left tibia in Chris Neil collision; Bruins forward out indefinitely

On Wednesday morning, Boston Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli told Toucher & Rich on 98.5 FM in Boston that Chris Kelly’s injured leg didn’t appear too serious:

“I know it was a lot better yesterday. I don’t think there is any structural damage so we’ll see in the next couple of days,” he said.

[Also: Anaheim's Perry suspended four games by NHL for hit on Jason Zucker]

"I think he’ll be fine.”

Or not so fine. Later in the day, Chiarelli issued a statement revealing the extent of Kelly’s injury, suffered on that knee-on-knee collision with Chris Neil of the Ottawa Senators on Monday night:

According to the Boston Globe, doctors needed to wait for swelling in Kelly’s knee to subside before issuing a definitive diagnosis. It did, and they did.

Kelly is third among Bruins forwards in shorthanded ice time at 2:25 per game. He’s a dependable faceoff guy (60.6 percent) who anchored the third line, a role Rich Peverley took on in Tuesday night’s loss at the Pittsburgh Penguins.

Joe Haggerty sees this as the end of Kelly’s regular season, considering the six-week rehab timeline associated with the injury. If so, one wonders how this changes things for Chiarelli at the trade deadline, having lost a valuable role player that thrived during the Bruins’ last Cup run.

Meanwhile, we’re sure this further endears Chris Neil to Bruins fans, accident or not.

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