BOSTON -- It looks like the undermanned Bruins won’t be getting any more reinforcement help from their college hockey prospects.

Team USA announced Monday that B’s draft pick and University of Notre Dame winger Anders Bjork will be joining the men’s team for the World Championships tournament in May taking place in Cologne, Germany and Paris, France. Bjork, 20, had been mulling a decision whether to turn pro with the Bruins or return to Notre Dame for one more chance at an NCAA title next season as a senior. While this decision doesn't necessarily mean he'll return to school, it does mean he won't be joining the Bruins for any part of their postseason run, as fellow NCAA standouts Charlie McAvoy and Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson have done in recent weeks.

The danger now is that Bjork will go back to Notre Dame for his senior year, not sign with the Bruins after the season, and become a free agent as Jimmy Vesey did last summer. Vesey was originally drafted by Nashville, but became a free agent after failing to sign with them -- or the Sabres, to whom the Predators traded his rights when it became clear Vesey wasn't going to Nashville -- and instead went onto the open market and signed with the New York Rangers.

Bruins general manager Don Sweeney had addressed this very topic a little more than a week ago, and said only at the time that Bjork was “sorting through things” and “making his own decision” after his advisors had chatted with the B’s shortly after the Fighting Irish were eliminated from the Frozen Four.

"It's part of the CBA that exists, so we need to operate under those guidelines," said Sweeney. "We establish a very strong relationship with our players through the development process, and we're always hopeful that they want to play for the Boston Bruins. That's the ultimate goal."

Clearly there would be a great deal of interest in a speedy, well-rounded 5-foot-11. 183-pound winger who finished with 21 goals and 52 points in 39 games for Notre Dame this season after opening eyes last summer as the best forward at Bruins development camp.

But a decision to return to school may not preclude him eventually landing in Boston. Bjork has strong ties to Notre Dame: His father Kirt was an All-American hockey player there and his cousin, Tampa Bay Lightning forward Erik Condra, also played for the Irish. So there might be real incentive for him to return for another chance at the NCAA title, after falling a couple of games short this season, beyond simply setting the stage for a free-agent run next summer.