While there will be plenty of curiosity about the top-6 forward situation this upcoming season for the Boston Bruins, the back end will be just as worthy of keen observation for the Black and Gold.
Some of that will be about D-man Nikita Zadorov’s acclimatization to the Bruins as he undoubtedly will be a popular player with his black and blue, intimidating style, and his potentially positive impact on somebody like Charlie McAvoy. But another big item to watch along the blue line will be the development of 23-year-old Mason Lohrei after establishing himself as an NHL player last season.
By the playoffs, the skilled Lohrei was an impact player for the Bruins who finished with a goal and four points in 11 playoff games while averaging 17:11 of ice time as a third-pairing defenseman. One could tell by the way Toronto and Florida were trying to get physical with the 6-foot-5, 211-pounder that he was becoming a difference-maker with his puck-moving, offensive skill and willingness to take risks to make plays.
It was all an extension of the four goals and 13 points that Lohrei posted in 41 games for the Bruins. Clearly Lohrei is going to need to continue to dig in and get stouter defensively, but all the offensive gifts that he possesses at the defenseman position were on display at points through the season. And the best part is that Lohrei was hungry to improve and get better while gradually breaking into a top-4 role with the Bruins that he’ll mature into over time.
“I want to be great. I want to win the Stanley Cup,” said Lohrei. “I want to be a top defenseman in the league. It’s just the way I think. I just have to keep working and showing up every day.
“It’s been incredible. I was just telling my parents that it was the most fun I’ve had playing hockey, ever, this playoff run we had [last spring]. Obviously being able to come in and jump into a role and run with it is huge for confidence and going into the summer is definitely giving me a lot of motivation to stay at it.”
The Bruins expect that all of that will continue to get better with maturity and confidence as he learns on the job at the NHL level.
“Knowing what it meant to him to make the jump and to see him evolve his game, I have no doubt he will continue to do that. One thing we talk about is that your development doesn’t stop once you make it [to the NHL],” said Bruins Player Development Coordinator Adam McQuaid. “There’s still a lot of growth to his game, but it was really rewarding to see him make the jump and show that he was ready.
“It’s really all areas. He loves the offensive side of the game, but he also understands the importance of the defensive size. Some of it just experience, going through the ups and downs and learning when to jump into plays and when not to [do that]. When to make the simple play…stuff like that. Part of that is game experience and learning, and you understand come playoff time that every little thing matters. But with his poise and the way he can see the ice, there are also opportunities for him to really impact the game.”
Lohrei, to his credit, also plans to get bigger, stronger and faster with the ability to separate with his skating speed at the top of the list. That could be a bit of a challenge for a 6-foot-5 defender that’s probably not ever going to be the fastest skater in the league, but he already does move very well for a defender at his size.
“I always want to work on getting stronger, the first three steps, speed. And then obviously keep working on the little things – skill, edges, skating, all that stuff, kind of touch everything. But a big emphasis on getting stronger,” said Lohrei. “You see some guys it comes naturally to, like [Johnny] Beecher. That’s just God-given. But I’ll go home, (use) plyometrics and strength (training).
“It’s something that I’ve worked on a lot and gotten better at, so it’s good to see the progression. But I want to keep that going and to be able to have the kind of separating first three [skating] steps. It’s so valuable out there. There’s not much time and space to be able to create that for yourself.”
With McAvoy, Hampus Lindholm, Zadorov and Brandon Carlo signed and healthy to start the year, it doesn’t feel like the Bruins are going to hand a top-4 spot to Lohrei right off the bat. Instead, he’ll forge a third pairing with Andrew Peeke that could be tremendously effective while Lohrei develops his game and eventually earns the top-4 role that he seems destined for sooner rather than later.
To their credit, though, the Bruins always put young players in a position where they need to earn a spot, or a promotion in the lineup, and that’s exactly where Lohrei finds himself where greater ice time, power play reps and a full NHL opportunity await him at an exciting time in his young career in Boston.
ONE TIMERS
*Interesting that Kevin Durant has been wearing a Boston Bruins hat during his stint with Team USA basketball in Paris at the 2024 Summer Games. We’ll have to dig and find out what this is all about besides thinking the Spoked B logo is pretty cool.
Kevin Durant has been rocking a Bruins hat recently with USA Basketball 👀 pic.twitter.com/7A0d1OmSAe
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) July 24, 2024
*The Bruins have also released the new uniform numbers for the latest group of Black and Gold acquisitions, with some familiar-looking ones like Mark Kastelic wearing Torey Krug’s old No. 47 and Elias Lindholm grabbing Mark Recchi’s No. 28 while Zadorov is going an interesting route with Marc Savard’s old No. 91. The real deep cut is Joonas Korpisalo’s No. 70 which has been worn by the immortal Matt DelGuidice (1993), Tim Thomas (2003), Malcolm Subban (2015-2017) and Jesper Boqvist last season.
Dialed up some digits. pic.twitter.com/leImbDmizV
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) July 26, 2024
*Props to Washington Capitals prospect and current Boston College forward Ryan Leonard, who is choosing to stick with the Eagles for his sophomore season after they lost in the Frozen Four championship game to Denver. The Northampton, Mass. native torched Hockey East for 31 goals and 60 points in 41 games as a freshman, so clearly he could have signed with the Capitals after being the 8th overall pick in the 2023 NHL Draft.
But he didn’t want to leave his Eagles team high and dry after they got so close last season, and that’s a really admirable thing that speaks to his character.
“We have some unfinished business, honestly,” said Leonard to NHL.com at Capitals development camp. “Maybe if our game against Denver goes the other way, it could have been a little bit different, and I could have played the end of the season with the Capitals. But Washington has been really supportive. They told me whenever I was ready, they’d be grateful and happy. Leaving my team after losing that last game against Denver was just something I couldn’t do.”
Ryan Leonard says he would have signed with the Caps before the playoffs if BC won the national championship, but he couldn’t leave his teammates behind after their heartbreaking loss to Denver 🤝
— B/R Open Ice (@BR_OpenIce) July 29, 2024
(h/t @rmnb) pic.twitter.com/8ABPOdFNeC