The mystery surrounding the status of Bruins defenseman Hampus Lindholm and a potential return to action had by all means engulfed Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco.

Leading up to the 4 Nations Face-Off break, the hope and expectation was that the Bruins would get Lindholm, who was injured in a Nov. 12 win over the Blues, back in their lineup. Hell, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney went on TNT and by all means said as much in an interview with Kenny Albert and Brian Boucher, citing Lindholm as a reason why the B’s weren’t throwing in the towel on the season.

But Lindholm took a step back on the practice front upon the team’s return to practice, and was not in the lineup for Saturday’s overtime loss to the Ducks. And now it’s beginning to look like a lost season for Lindholm, with Sweeney noting that it’s unlikely that he’ll get back on a game rink this season.

“Hampus, unfortunately, is unlikely to return for the rest of this season,” Sweeney said following Sunday’s practice at Warrior ice Arena. “As everybody knows, he had a significant knee injury, fractured his patella, [and] had surgery … He’s going to have a follow up next week to remove a little bit of the hardware because it created some irritation as he was going through the rehab again.”

The latest update on Lindholm comes with the Bruins still on the outside looking in in the Eastern Conference playoff race, and with Charlie McAvoy also on the shelf.

The Bruins were always careful with how they discussed Lindholm’s recovery and status — even when he was practicing, he was never upgraded beyond ‘week to week’ by the Bruins — and it feels like this decision from the Black and Gold comes with the Bruins thinking big picture more than anything else.

“I think we were pretty open and really didn’t want to put a timeline on it because of the complexity of the injury,” Sweeney admitted. “The healing process has gone long and gone well and he’ll have no setbacks moving forward. That being said, it’s going to take a little more time for him to heal naturally, and we just don’t want to put a timeline on on when he’ll be back to 100%. So I think it’s it’s more constructive to allow him to to not continue to push the way he had been pushing and to let it feel a little more naturally.”

Lindholm, who will finish his season with three goals and seven points in 17 games, is in the third year of an eight-year contract that runs through 2029-30 and comes with a $6.5 million cap hit.

As for Lindholm’s frequent running mate, Charlie McAvoy, the news is not quite as fatalistic, but does come with a gigantic unknown from Don Sweeney and the Bruins.

“As far as Charlie, very happy to report that Charlie’s doing better, out of the hospital, as you saw in his attendance to the 4 Nations, and doing better at home with Kiley [McAvoy] and Rhys [McAvoy],” Sweeney said following Sunday’s skate at Brighton’s Warrior ice Arena. “No timeline in regards to his surgery and his shoulder, but again, doing much, much better. And we’re very grateful and appreciative to Dr. [Peter] Asnis and the medical staff that took care of Charlie.”

Injured in Team USA’s opening game against Finland during 4 Nations Face-Off round-robin play, and then suffering an infection sometime between the USA’s head-to-head with Canada and Sweden, the good news for the Bruins comes with the belief that McAvoy will not require any additional surgeries on what the team initially termed as a significant injury to his AC joint.

“I don’t think so at this time, but again, we’ll let the healing take place, and allow the infection stuff to make sure it’s gone, and it’ll be reevaluated,” Sweeney said when asked if an additional operation would be in the cards for McAvoy. “It’s unlikely [with] the nature of that injury. But you know, again, I’ll let Dr. Asnis and Charlie determine course of action and the timeline necessary for him to fully heal.”

But the interest in McAvoy went beyond just the additional medicals and follow-ups.

With word that the Bruins were displeased with the care that McAvoy received under the care of Team USA docs (who also serve as the medical team for the Wild), it was only fair to ask Sweeney how he felt about the care (or perhaps the lack of) that McAvoy received during the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“The care that Charlie received here is what’s most important from the standpoint of where his health is at now, and that’s all that really matters,” Sweeney, doing his best to dance around the question and saying something a bit more direct or potentially inflammatory, said. “Dr. Asnis’ team did a great job.”

Honestly, there’s an answer within that non-answer. Reading through the lines, there’s a definite vibe of, “Well, thank goodness he was in our care when he was because who knows how bad it could’ve become.” But the non-answer did not end the line of questioning, as Sweeney was then immediately asked whether or not he felt that the McAvoy injury (and namely the infection) was preventable.

“Yeah, again, I’m not going to talk and get into any more details in terms of Charlie,” Sweeney said. “I gave you the update in terms of how Charlie is doing, and that’s what we’re grateful for.

“Again, we’re beyond all that. If Charlie wants to make comments, you know, when he does come back and return to play, in terms of anything else, we gave it a specific timeline, gave the health of the player as it relates to now. And I think that’s all that needs to be said. And we’re grateful for the care that he got and how he’s feeling now.”

With McAvoy out indefinitely, the Bruins will have to lean on a right-side combo of Andrew Peeke and Brandon Carlo, with the left-shooting Parker Wotherspoon lining up on his off side.

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