The Bruins’ injury situation has become downright comical. And at this point, you have to figure that all head coach Marco Sturm can do is laugh.

Already down three defensemen from their Opening Night roster (Jordan Harris, Henri Jokiharju, and Charlie McAvoy), the Bruins’ blue line took another hit Tuesday. This time with one of the very players brought up as an injury replacement, with Michael Callahan knocked out of action in a loss to Detroit.

Callahan played just 2:51 over five shifts in the first period of play prior to leaving the game, and landed a shot on goal to close out his final shift of the night. By the midway point of the second period, the Bruins had ruled Callahan out for the remainder of the game with a lower-body injury.

After the loss, Sturm didn’t have much to add, but didn’t sound like someone who expected it to be a quick turnaround back to 100 percent for Callahan.

“Yeah, I don’t know yet,” Sturm said when asked for a Callahan update after the Black and Gold’s 5-4 loss to the Red Wings. “We have to see [on Wednesday]. But, again, I don’t think he will be ready for the next few days here.”

Assuming the Bruins aren’t going to get one of their previously mentioned already-injured defenders back in action on Thursday (they are not expected to, for what it’s worth), that sets the B’s up for yet another recall from the AHL.

And as of right now, the three likeliest candidates for a recall have to be Frederic Brunet, Victor Söderström, and Billy Sweezey.

Given that Callahan’s injury came with him playing on the left side of Boston’s third pairing, the left-shooting Brunet may be the most natural recall option.

After making a one-game cameo for the Big B’s a year ago, Brunet has started his 2025-26 campaign with four goals and nine points, along with a plus-6 rating, in 20 games for the P-Bruins. Brunet also scored Providence’s lone goal in their Tuesday night loss to Laval, and was one of the final cutdowns from Bruins camp this past fall. In his first preseason under Sturm, Brunet posted one assist and three hits in three preseason contests.

But considering that four of the five defensemen currently on the B’s roster are lefties, perhaps the Bruins aren’t going to be hung up on handedness.

If the Bruins are looking for the more veteran option, Söderström may be their guy. Back in the North American pro game after a season in Sweden, the righty-shooting defender (and 2019 first-round pick) has put up one goal and nine points through 18 games with the P-Bruins this season.

Prior to his time in Providence and a return to Sweden, Söderström had a goal and 11 points in 53 NHL games for Arizona from 2021 to 2024.

Sweezey, meanwhile, represents a rough-and-tumble kind of option for Boston. Now in his second season with the B’s organization, Sweezey has posted seven points through 20 games this season, but has a defense-best plus-11 rating for AHL Providence this season. Sweezey made nine NHL appearances for the Blue Jackets during the 2022-23 season, and totaled 39 hits and 20 blocked shots over that nine-game sample. 

If the Bruins have to bring up another defenseman for Thursday’s game against the Blues, that means they will have dressed 10 different defensemen through 29 games this season. That would tie them with the Hurricanes, Penguins, and Lightning for the most in the NHL this season.