Charlie McAvoy took part in the Bruins’ optional morning skate in Winnipeg and remains a game-time decision for the Bruins game against the Jets on Thursday.

“Today felt good and then we’ll just monitor it throughout the day. I’ve got to go talk to the trainers now so I don’t have an answer for you yet but we’ll see how the rest of the day goes,” McAvoy told reporters in Winnipeg. “It’s a team decision. It’s a group of people we rely to make sure we’re doing the right thing.”

Thanks to the liquid diet that was required of him after he suffered a broken jaw on November 15 in Montreal, McAvoy had dropped 20 pounds. But he’s been regaining the weight day-by-day and, along with it, his strength.

“It’s definitely getting better. I’m able to do more so you’re able to work on your conditioning and get that part back. But whenever it is, the best way to get conditioning back is to just play in the game. I think that’s coming soon,” said McAvoy.

The obstacles he’s faced have been physical, but he said that the psychological part of the return isn’t bothering him.

“I’ve played with a bubble before, I’ve got plates in my jaw and so I think I’m protected pretty well. So we’ll see what happens whenever it happens. Maybe it will be a little shock at first but then it’s just hockey,” said McAvoy.

Regardless of when he makes his return, coach Marco Sturm said his presence on the trip has been a boost. And Sturm appreciates the work he has put in to get back.

“I only see half of it because most of the time I’m in the coaches room but just the presence alone that he brings on the ice and off the ice, it’s just a lot,” said Sturm. “We can see it, we can feel it, just to have him back and seeing that smile on his face. It’s been a while. It’s been a tough road for him.. He’s been our leader, so it’s nice to have him back.”

While the possible McAvoy return leaves the defense corps with a question mark, Sturm said there will be no changes up front while Joonas Korpisalo will get the start.

The game will also be a homecoming for Strathclair, Manitoba native Morgan Geekie. Once thought to be a bottom-six grinder, Geekie returns as one of the top goalscorers in the league. He’s got 22 goals, trailing only Colorado’s Nathan MacKinnon’s 24 in the Rocket Richard Trophy race.

But his newfound status among the league’s elite doesn’t change much when he returns home.

“I don’t think so. Honestly, all the people that I talk to growing up, they’re still the friends I grew up with in high school and stuff like that. Honestly, it doesn’t really change much,” said Geekie. “And those people that I grew up with in the community, they would still say hi to me no matter what I was doing if I was walking down the street. It’s cool and I appreciate them coming, but for me it doesn’t change a whole lot.”