Bruton out, Larson coming

Chris Bruton is out for the week, and Nick Larson is coming up from Stockton.

Scott Pellerin said Bruton has an upper-body injury that will keep him out through the weekend at least, so he’ll miss Sunday’s game against Binghamton. He’ll be reevaluated next week. (Pellerin said he hadn’t received a report on Brett Gallant yet.)

So that’s a ding to a young team, which practiced Wednesday with 11 forwards (leaving Bruton’s spot open alongside John Persson and Riley Wetmore) and seven defensemen after Mike Dalhuisen and Mike Keenan were sent down yesterday.

Larson hadn’t arrived yet. “We had a good look at him in camp on Long Island, in Syosset,” Pellerin said. “I was very impressed with his work ethic, his attention to detail, his practice habits. It carried on to their camp in Stockton. He was the best at their physical testing. He played well in the exhibition games and practice. He was the guy Rich (Kromm, Stockton’s coach) recommended to fill the role and the position we need at this time.”

On Dalhuisen and Keenan: “They’re both high-character guys. They worked their tails off. But they have not played a game in a long time. You look at our schedule, with two games in the next 16 days, I think it was, they can go down to Stockton and play five to our two. At the first of November, it kind of starts up again, we’ll reevaluate where we are.”

With the long week between games, they’re taking tomorrow off after a couple of hard skates.

Michael Fornabaio