Kastelic missed the last 12 games of the season.
Mark Kastelic instantly became a fan favorite among the Black and Gold faithful after the Bruins acquired the forward from the Senators as part of the deal that sent Linus Ullmark to Ottawa last June.
Unfortunately for the Bruins, the forward’s season was abruptly cut short when Kastelic suffered an upper-body injury against the Vegas Golden Knights on March 20.
Kastelic admitted he had lingering symptoms from the concussion he sustained after a “cheap” shot from the Tampa Bay Lightning defenseman Emil Lilleberg at the beginning of January.
“Right now, I feel like kind of the best I’ve felt in a long time, even dating back to January,” Kastelic told reporters during his end-of-season media availability at Warrior Ice Arena on Thursday. “I’ve been dealing with just the lingering symptoms of the first concussion I’ve had, and that’s been a bit of a process to kind of try and get over that hump.”
Even though Kastelic missed the final 12 games of the season, he clarified that he didn’t actually get re-injured in the loss to Vegas.
“It wasn’t necessarily like a hit. Nothing happened in that Vegas game, it was more just not feeling like myself and having to kind of be honest with how I was feeling, because it’s not something I feel like was worth pushing through when it’s a head injury,” he said. “So, I feel like over the last couple of months, I’ve kind of … it’s been really hard on just trying to tell myself I’m okay, but being honest with myself.
“So, it was a hard conversation I had to have … just my inner thoughts, and I think it was for the best, though, long term, because I want to have a long, healthy career, and I’m confident I’ll do that. And, I think that was necessary. I’m feeling a lot better now.”
One Bruins player who certainly understands the long-term effects of a concussion is six-time Selke winner Patrice Bergeron.
“I’ve had a lot of people in my corner throughout this whole last couple of months, and most recently, talked to Bergy a little bit on the phone, as well as sports psych guys for the mental side of things,” Kastelic said. “It’s very reassuring just to hear from guys on that level, like Bergy, just hearing his process and what he had to go through in the past.
“I think after that phone call, it just helped me feel more confident about the future going forward and just having a positive outlook on the end result.”
Despite suffering the concussion, Kastelic doesn’t plan on changing the way he plays the game — including occasionally dropping the gloves.
“I just love to compete and play hard,” he said. “I think that comes with the territory. … It’s not like I’m trying to go out there and (fight), but try to stick up for yourself and protect yourself and protect the guys in the room.
“Nothing’s going to dissuade me from just playing a hard style game. That’s why I think this summer will be great for just kind of putting everything behind me.”
Kastelic recorded five goals and nine assists for 14 points across 61 games. The 26-year-old signed a three-year contract extension in January, so he’ll look to continue to be a contributor to the B’s in his second season with the team.