There are bigger items to be taken care of on the Bruins offseason docket, to be sure, but Don Sweeney checked one mid-sized item off his “to-do” list with a two-year contract extension for 24-year-old defenseman Mason Lohrei. The puck-moving D-man was inked to a two-year contract with a $3.2 million average annual value for a polarizing player that led Bruins defensemen in points and assists this past season and paced all Bruins players in power play assists (16) last season. Of course, that went along with “leading” the NHL with a minus-43 mark for the year, which really showed how much more was asked of him in a top-4 capacity on the back end once Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm went down with serious injuries.
Bruins sign Mason Lohrei 2x $3.2m deal.
— Bruins Cap Space (@BruinsCapSpace) June 23, 2025
Updated Cap Projection pic.twitter.com/qMPJdLlmaV
Lohrei was predictably exposed playing higher up on the Bruins' back end and against the opposition’s top players and didn’t have a partner like McAvoy to protect him like earlier last season when the two were a pretty effective pairing at times.
One of the comps for Lohrei’s deal would appear to be the two-year, $8 million contract that the Dallas Stars signed Thomas Harley to prior to this past season after he posted 15 goals and 47 points in 79 games for the Stars in 23-24. Lohrei obviously came in a little bit lower on his AAV (Average Annual Value) than Harley did as a former first-round pick and more well-rounded D-man playing for a stronger team, but the trend is clearly toward paying younger RFA players more based on their promise over actual production.
Harley’s strong production as a point man on the Stars PP could also portend exactly what new Bruins assistant coach, and former Dallas PP architect, Steve Spott has in mind for Lohrei next season on the Boston man advantage.
Getting back to this past season, however, it was a humbling campaign where Lohrei was exposed defensively and showed pretty clearly the areas that need further development in his game.
But there are also zero questions that the youngster is the most offensively skilled D-man on the current Boston roster, and that he’s well thought of around the league, as attested by his invite to Team USA for the IIHF World Championships. The unrealized potential is the biggest reason Lohrei was signed to the bridge two-year contract with the Bruins where he’s either going to establish himself fully with the Bruins as a gifted defenseman with an offensive bent, or go down a few years from now as a talented player that couldn’t adequately address some shortcomings in his game away from the puck.
The talent is undeniable, though, and Lohrei is still big enough, young enough and athletic enough to evolve into a more full-service NHL defenseman with good offensive skills. This is something that Lohrei himself addressed after the season was over, while admitting that the plus/minus mark was “embarrassing” to think about.
The key part here is that Lohrei wants to get better at all aspects of his game and doesn’t view himself as some kind of power play specialist, or offensive defenseman that doesn’t want to get his hands dirty.
“When you’re in it, it sucks…losing games and stuff. Even now it’s frustrating. Obviously, you’ve got to learn from it and improve,” admitted Lohrei to the Boston Sports Journal in the closing days of the NHL regular season. “You come out the other side better. But first of all, you never want to be where I’m at [in plus/minus]. Plain and simple. Nobody ever wants to be there. It’s embarrassing and frustrating. Obviously, the stuff is situational, but you never want to be there. Definitely motivating to show that’s not who I am and where I am going to be. Nobody is going to say they don’t care [about his plus/minus].
“I just want to keep improving my game in all facets of it. That’s where I’ve always been every summer. I want to become a very well-rounded defenseman in this league and I just focus on stuff that will help me improve that. [Improving in the defensive zone] is something I’ve worked on a lot since becoming a defenseman and a lot of it comes with experience. You play so many games against the best players in the world and maybe it’s a consistency thing, I think. I do know that I can defend in the D-zone and have a good stick and close hard and be physical. Then get the puck, break out with it and get out of the D-zone. That is something that I want to keep working on into the future.”
That’s all good things to hear from a 6-foot-5, 220-pound blueliner that has the tools to be better defensively if the desire to defend is there. Some might complain that the $3.2 million salary is high for a player who really struggled at times last season his first full year in the NHL, but offensive production is king and always gets the higher paycheck at the NHL level.
The other interesting aspect of this deal and the timing ahead of the NHL Draft and the July open of free agency?
It gives cost certainty to a promising young D-man that would make him a much more tradeable commodity should the right deal pop up over the next couple of weeks. There have been plenty of murmurs and trade whispers about possible wheeling and dealing between the Boston Bruins and the New York Islanders with the No. 1 overall pick potentially in play, and other pieces like Islanders defenseman Noah Dobson and 25-year-old Swedish winger Simon Holmstrom (20 goals and 45 points last season in New York) potentially on the move as trade pieces in a blockbuster deal. There has been mention of JG Pageau being in play as well, but not sure acquiring a 31-year-old third-line center is the right kind of move for a Bruins team that's retooling their roster.
More draft week intel from my mock:
— Scott Wheeler (@scottcwheeler) June 24, 2025
Sounds like Bruins also have interest in moving up.
My sense is the Flyers and Bruins at 6-7 like the same three players: Martin, O'Brien and Hagens. Everyone keeps telling me those three won't get past 6-7. And yet, there appear to be eight…
Having a piece like Lohrei locked up for two years gives them a power play piece for next season should they keep him and see how he develops over the next couple of seasons, but it also gives him added value as a trade piece should the conversations continue flowing with other general managers over the next 7-10 days.
It all adds up to a sensible deal for the Bruins that will look even better should Lohrei keep developing into the impact player that the Black and Gold clearly think he can be two seasons into his NHL career.