WILMINGTON — Forward Nathan Horton was among those in attendance as Bruins players held an informal practice at Ristuccia Arena on Thursday. Other newcomers included Rich Peverley, Daniel Paille and defenseman Aaron Johnson.

Horton, who saw each of his last two seasons end early due to concussions, was cleared for contact over the summer but elected against playing anywhere during the lockout. Horton skated in Florida during the 113-day stoppage.

General manager Peter Chiarelli and coach Claude Julien were also in attendance. Players had previously been skating at Boston University during the lockout.

David Krejci has three goals in the Czech Elite League.

Only 18 players were able to attend Thursday’s negotiating session between the NHLPA and the owners, due in large part to many of the stars being overseas for the lockout. Among those in attendance Thursday in Toronto was Bruins’ enforcer Shawn Thornton. A good day of talks between the sides could mean an eventual end to the lockout, but for now here’s the latest update on how Bruins players are faring in Europe and the OHL.

[Certain leagues' stats take a little longer to surface on the various hockey statistics sites (HockeyDB is used for most of these), so some statistics might not be up to the day/hour/minute/etc.]

Swiss National League A

- Tyler Seguin has one goal and four assists for five points in seven games for EHC Biel. He’s also rocking a not-so-shiny minus-6 rating.

KHL

- In five games with Prague Lev, Zdeno Chara has one goal and two assists for three points and a minus-1 rating.

- Bruins backup goalie Anton Khudobin is 3-6-2 with a 2.65 goals-against average and .921 save percentage in 11 games for Moscow Oblast Atlant.

Czech Elite League

- David Krejci has three goals and two assists for five points and an even rating in five games for HC Pardubice.

- In two games for Ceske Budejovice, Andrew Ference has one assist and a plus-2 rating.

Deutsche Eishockey League

- Dennis Seidenberg has one assist and an even rating in four games for the Manheim Eagles.

SM-liiga

- Through seven games for JyP HT Jyvaskyla of the SM-liiga, Rich Peverley has no goals but five assists. He’s recorded six penalty minutes and has a plus-1 rating.

OHL

- Turns out it wasn’t just a hot start for 2011 third-rounder Anthony Camara. The physical forward has nine goals and three assists for 12 points and a plus-3 rating for the Barrie Colts. He’s also kept up his physical end of the bargain, compiling 21 penalty minutes.

- In 11 games for the Niagara IceDogs, Dougie Hamilton has three goals and eight assists for 11 points and a plus-11 rating.

- Goalie Malcolm Subban is 5-2-1 with a 2.08 goals-against average and .934 save percentage through eight games for the Belleville Bulls.

Tuukka Rask

According to a report out of Finland, Bruins forward Rich Peverley will sign with JYP Jyvaskyla of the SM-liiga in Finland to play during the lockout, and ESPNBoston is reporting that goaltender Tuukka Rask will sign with HC Plzen in the Czech Extraliga.

Rask’s signing makes him the third player headed to the Czech Extraliga, as Andrew Ference will play for Ceske Budejovice and David Krejci will play for HC Pardubice.

With Monday’s news, Bruins players set to play overseas for the lockout now include Rask, Peverley, Krejci, Ference, Tyler Seguin (Swiss Elite League), Dennis Seidenberg (Deutsche Eishockey Liga) and Anton Khudobin (KHL).

A source told WEEI.com on Monday that captain Zdeno Chara is still weighing his options and is in no hurry to find a place to play this season.

The Bruins have a new ECHL affiliate, as the team announced it has entered into an affiliation relationship with the South Carolina Stingrays. The B’s previous ECHL club was the Reading Royals, with whom they’d been affiliated since the 2009-10 season.

The Stingrays had been the Capitals’ ECHL affiliate from 2004 to 2012.

Fun fact, per the Bruins’ PR: Rich Peverley‘s first professional season came with the Stingrays in 2004-05. He scored 30 goals and added 28 assist for 58 points in that season.

With the Bruins’ season in the books, WEEI.com will take a look at each player on the roster one-by-one to provide some perspective on what went wrong this season and what the future holds for the 2011 champions.

Rich Peverley played in only 57 regular-season games. (AP)

Rich Peverley

Age: 29

2011-12 stats: 57 games played, 11 goals, 31 assists, 42 points, plus-20

Contract status: Signed through 2014-15 ($3.25 million cap hit)

Looking back: The 2011-12 season was Peverley’s first full go of it in Boston after being acquired in February of 2011, but the season ended up being plagued by injuries.

First there was an undisclosed injury that caused the Bruins to give him practices and occasional games off, but the real damage was done when Peverley sprained his MCL on a hit from then-Habs defenseman Hal Gill on Feb. 15. That injury kept him out for the next 18 games, accounting for the majority of the 25 games he missed during the regular season.

Still, despite missing as much time as he did, Peverley surpassed the 41 points he had in 82 games in the 2010-11 season. His 31 assists were just two shy of his career-best from 2009-10 (also an 82-game campaign), while his 11 goals made for his lowest total since 2008-09 (two goals in 27 games). Generally moving around between the top three lines, Peverley gained experience playing with a lot of different guys, but such can be expected from a player with his versatility. He took over Nathan Horton‘s spot on David Krejci‘s line after Horton suffered his latest concussion.

The postseason was where Peverley really shined. In a round in which both teams were very quiet offensively, Peverley led the Bruins with three goals in their seven-game first-round series against the Capitals. He was Boston’s best player when the B’s faced elimination in Game 6, as he notched a goal and an assist while winning 13 of 24 faceoffs with Patrice Bergeron unable to take draws. He didn’t fare as well in Game 7, losing 15 of 26 draws.

Looking ahead: The Bruins were able to lock up Peverley, one of many Bruins who entered the season on the final year of their deals, in October with a three-year contract that carries an annual cap hit of $3.25 million. For the sake of comparison, that’s one more year and $250,000 less than Michael Ryder got from the Stars. Such a contract means that the expectations on Peverley will high in the coming seasons.

So what will justify Peverley’s contract? He’s only had one season with 50 or more points in his career (55 in 2009-10), and one would think the 29-year-old has a few more campaigns like that ahead of him.

Of course, and as was seen with Ryder in Dallas this past season, the points can be highly impacted with where he is in the lineup. Assuming Horton is healthy and both Krejci and Milan Lucic are back next season, it would appear that Peverley will be pencilled in on the third line to begin next season. Chris Kelly‘s status as an unrestricted free agent also will play a factor there, as Peverley could potentially take over as the third-line center should Kelly bolt in July.

Ultimately, health and opportunity will help determine whether Peverley makes the Bruins look smart for paying him. The B’s love versatility, and as a guy capable of playing on any of the top three lines (at wing or center), the power play and the penalty kill, Peverley provides obvious value to Claude Julien and the Bruins.

Nicklas Backstrom

ARLINGTON, Va. — The Capitals released the following statement Wednesday on the suspension of Nicklas Backstrom. The center was suspended for Game 4 after his cross-check to Rich Peverley‘s face at the end of Game 3.

“We disagree with the NHL’s decision to suspend Nicklas Backstrom. This has been a competitive and physical series, and we do not understand why a suspension was imposed in this case while other incidents in this series have not been reviewed. Our singular focus is on Game 4, and we look forward to the energy that our great fans provide.”

Keith Aucoin

Capitals center Keith Aucoin joined the Dennis & Callahan show Wednesday morning to discuss his team’s series against the Bruins and his experience growing up in the Boston area.

Aucoin may have grown up playing hockey in Waltham and Chelmsford, but now he plays on an enemy line as far as Bruins fans are concerned as the B’s and Capitals square off in the first round of the Stanley Cup playoffs. Aucoin and the Capitals returned home with the series tied heading into Game 3, but the Bruins were able to snag a victory, something that Aucoin said was because the Bruins simplified their game.

“I think they kept the game a lot more simple,” Aucoin said. “They were a lot more physical than they were in Game 1 and 2, and I think they kind of wore us down a bit toward the end of the game. They turned the puck over, which is what they key on.

“They got us off our game a little bit, and after the whistles stopped there was a lot of extracurricular activity. We have to make sure we stay away from that and that’s what we did in Games 1 and 2.”

When asked if the physical play of Game 3 was a sign of things to come, if the series may take an ugly turn as it has in many series around the NHL, Aucoin said that these kinds of actions are what happen when two teams have prolonged exposure to each other in such a condensed period of time.

“I think that’s what happens in a series,” Aucoin said. “[In] Game 1 there wasn’t much at all, and Game 2 a little bit more and Game 3 a little bit more. As the games go on, you get sick of each other and you grow tired of each other. You never know what can happen. You could see the hate going in Game 3.”

The Capitals suffered a tough setback to their hopes to rebound from their Game 3 loss when it was announced that Nicklas Backstrom would be suspended for Game 4 for his cross-check on Rich Peverley at the end of the game. Though Backstrom’s absence will certainly make things tougher for the Capitals, Aucoin said that the team can possibly rally around it.

” I think the guys have to rally around each other and go out there and figure out a way to win,” Aucoin said. “Tomorrow’s a must-win game for us, so we can’t feel sorry for ourselves. We have to go out there and somebody’s got to step up.

“[For] the last month and a half before the playoffs started we’ve been playing playoff hockey. We have to figure out a way to do it again and rally. We’re a team that’s rallied around each other all year and it’s been fun to be a part of.”

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