Their options if Chara and Grzelyck can’t go are Kampfer or Vaakanainen.
Kampfer is the more experienced option, but he has only played in 2 career playoff games. He hasn’t played since 5/9, so he’s been idle for a while. A wrinkle with this option is he is a righty, which would put them in the position of dressing 4 RHD and 2 LHD meaning a righty would have to play on the left side. That is not something they have had to do much this year.
I’m assuming Vaakanainen will be under consideration with Kampfer since they brought him up to practice with the team after Grzelyck’s injury. He is a lefty, so if they don’t want to move a righty to the left, he could be the guy. The cons to this move are obvious. He’s a rookie who has played all of 1 NHL game plus a few minutes in a 2nd game before getting concussed. He also hasn’t played since the end of April when Providence was eliminated on 4/26. He did log heavy minutes for a World Junior Championship team this past December/January so he does have experience in a high stakes, high pressure spot. Maybe we can call him Urho “hasn’t played in 6 weeks” Vaakanainen.
Tough call here, but at least they are at home and could shelter whoever goes in a bit more.