Ask Mason Lohrei if there are any current NHL defensemen he tries to model his game after and he says he likes watching all the young stars. He doesn’t rattle off the whole list, but he does name-check one: Shea Theodore.
That’s as good a place as any to start. Theodore just won the Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights, playing the second-most minutes on the team at over 20 minutes per game. He was their highest-scoring defenseman with 13 points in 21 playoff games.
Lohrei’s profile does bear some similarities to Theodore’s. They both have size – 6-foot-2 for Theodore, 6-foot-4 for Lohrei. They’re both excellent skaters. They both have high-end offensive instincts and skills. Defending was or is the question mark for both. It’s still not a strength of Theodore’s, but he’s improved enough to be a stellar top-four defenseman year after year. It remains to be seen if it will become a strength of Lohrei’s.
Adam McQuaid, the Bruins’ player development coordinator, says Lohrei’s defending “has come a long way” in the three years since Boston made him a second-round pick.
Appearing on WEEI’s Skate Podcast at Bruins development camp this week (listen to the full interview below), Lohrei agreed with McQuaid’s assessment, while also acknowledging there’s still plenty of work to do.
“I mean, definitely made big strides from, whatever, four years ago, and even in the past six months,” Lohrei said. “But just kind of keep working on all those same things -- having a good stick, closing hard, a lot of the stuff we worked on [this week]. That's stuff I need to work on to be able to be successful at the next level.”
McQuaid, who won a Stanley Cup with the Bruins in 2011, has played a hands-on role in Lohrei’s development. Lohrei has been a sponge, especially during a week like development camp when he got extensive on-ice work with McQuaid and other members of the Bruins’ staff.
“Quaider has been unbelievable to work with,” Lohrei said. “Obviously he played the game for a long time and had a lot of success. So being able to work with somebody like that is super beneficial. A lot of things from his game that made him so good that, if I can add to my game, that'll just make me that much better. He notices so many little things just from watching. That's what being a true pro is. He knows everything that you need to do to be able to play in this league. Just try to listen as much as I can to him and take into account what he has to say and add it to my game.”
Lohrei, 22, hopes to prove he's ready to play in the NHL this fall. He has not shied away from declaring that his goal is to make Boston's roster. Lohrei turned pro at the end of March when his sophomore season at Ohio State ended and played eight games with Providence. It should not be viewed as a disappointment if the Bruins determine he needs more AHL action.
Lohrei has had to be patient before. He went undrafted the first year he was eligible. He played an extra year in the USHL, where he led all defensemen in scoring, before heading to Ohio State as a 20-year-old freshman.
While discussing his somewhat unusual and longer path towards becoming a top prospect, Lohrei references another player who just won the Cup with Vegas to explain why he never got worried about being overlooked.
“I can't really worry too much about that stuff,” he said. “That's not in your control. So just showing up every day and staying the course and just working as hard as you can to improve your game. Everybody has different paths. I think I'm a good example of that. There's a ton of good examples everywhere, like [Jonathan] Marchessault just won the Conn Smythe and played 300 games in the minors, didn't get drafted. There's so many different paths that I was never worried about it. So, just keep working hard every day and improve my game.”
In case Theodore, McQuaid and Marchessault weren’t enough when it came to learning from Stanley Cup champs, Lohrei and the rest of the Bruins’ prospects at development camp this week got a visit from Ray Bourque to kick things off on Monday. Part of Bourque’s message reinforced an approach Lohrei already takes.
“That was pretty cool,” Lohrei said. “That's just what this organization is all about and that was kind of his biggest message: Being a Bruin isn't for everyone, and his approach to the game was perfection every day. I think that's something that I like to think, too, where every day you show up to the rink and try to be perfect, which is never really going to happen, but as close as you can get is good.”
Lohrei isn’t perfect, and he isn’t Ray Bourque. But he is a player who by all accounts is getting close to being able to help the Bruins’ blue line.
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