On what was a Fredless Wednesday, Jason Tatum’s return timeline and the Boston Bruins trade deadline were hot topics.

And why, might you ask, was the show Fredless today? I’ll lay it out for you. At 5:30 this morning, I received a text from Fred Toucher informing me he was running late. No problem; I figured it was the weather. Ten minutes later, “running late” became “the runs.” Fred wasn’t dealing with weather-related delays. He was bathroom-bound with what would later be identified as food poisoning. Fred’s on the mend and due back Thursday. But that left Hardy to host and moved Jon Wallach to second mic on short notice. Luckily, we had a few guests lined up.

Tatum’s Return Timeline

That’s Chris Forsberg up top, who joins Toucher & Hardy Wednesday mornings at 8 throughout the Celtics regular season and (hopefully) postseason. Sporting a fresh ‘do that he debuted on NBC Sports Boston this week, Chris addressed the elephant in the room: the long-awaited return of Jason Tatum. Jon Wallach thought the Celtics star would make his season debut tonight at home, as yesterday was Tatum’s birthday. Alas, that does not seem to be the case. So we look ahead to Friday and spend another day arguing about if he’ll start come off the bench.

Yes, that’s been a take on the Sports Hub as of late. Not just hosts, but callers calling out the team–in a good way–for overachieving. They’re running a different offence in Tatum’s absence. There’s chemistry. Players are breaking out. Now why anyone would think throwing a superstar like Tatum into the mix would make that worse instead of better? That’s above my paygrade. Forsberg had some thoughts, too. He shares them in the clip.

Bruins Trade Deadline

From the Celtics we moved onto the Bruins. Our other regularly scheduled Wednesday morning guest is the radio voice of your Boston Bruins, Ryan Johnston. You can hear him Wednesday mornings at 9. Unless the Patriots are on a Super Bowl run. Then he gets bumped. A little behind-the-scenes radio humor for you there. It’s true: during the Pats run this winter, poor R.J. had to move to different times on different days. But he did it all with a smile, because the man is a true professional. We’re glad to have him back in his usual slot for the rest of the season.

So what will the rest of the season look like? We’ll have a better idea of that after Friday’s NHL trade deadline. Ryan’s response to Bruins GM Don Sweeney’s remarks earlier this week that the team deserves a “bump” was: “how big of a bump?” That’s the part we’re pontificating over. R.J. expects Sweeney to make a move to improve the roster this season, but not at the expense of mortgaging things in the long term. Watch the clip for all of his takes, and listen to the Toucher & Hardy show with Fred back in the mix weekday mornings, live from 6-10.