The Bruins held their annual development camp at Warrior Ice Arena last week. Top prospects Fabian Lysell and Mason Lohrei were the main attractions, and we interviewed both on The Skate Podcast. If you missed those interviews or our stories on them, check them out below:
Fabian Lysell, Mason Lohrei join The Skate Pod
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There was plenty else to take away from the week beyond Lysell and Lohrei, though. Here are five leftover thoughts:
-- If anyone at camp besides Lysell and Lohrei deserved some attention and hype, it’s probably Matthew Poitras. The 2022 second-round pick was a standout all week, including in Friday’s camp-ending scrimmage. He consistently displayed strong playmaking and puck protection skills in the offensive zone, and also flashed a good shot and some nice finishing that he could probably stand to use a little more.
“His ability to play in space, his ability to play and create space, his elusiveness…he buys time for himself,” said Jamie Langenbrunner, the Bruins’ assistant general manager-player personnel, of Poitras. “He has that knack where he can kind of just look guys off and find lanes. Next step we're going to try pushing on him is I guess similar to Fabian [Lysell] is shoot the puck a little bit more.
“He can shoot the puck, but he definitely is a pass-first guy. If we can tilt that just a little bit the other way, I think that is going to give him that much more of a leg up moving forward, but we're very happy with that player.”
The 19-year-old center ranked second in the Ontario Hockey League in assists last season with 79 and fifth in points with 95 in 63 games. Some Bruins fans on Twitter have already started speculating that Poitras could make a push to play in Boston this season. That’s probably a little too aggressive for him at this point, and the safer bet is another season in the OHL, but there’s no doubt that Poitras looks promising. That’s a welcome development for a Bruins team that has to find way to replenish the center position in the coming years.
-- Frederic Brunet, another 2022 draft pick (fifth round), also had a really strong week. The 19-year-old defenseman has been known for his offense at the junior level, as he put up 73 points (16 goals, 57 assists) in 66 games in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League this past season. That was also on display this week, including in Friday’s scrimmage when he walked in from the point and snapped a shot high-glove during the 4-on-4 portion.
Brunet also looked good defensively, though, showing good timing and gaps with poke checks to break up 1-on-1 and 2-on-1 rushes. That’s what he’ll need to do to succeed as a pro, which he could be as early as this season. Nothing has been 100% decided on where Brunet will play this year, but both Brunet and Bruins player development coordinator Adam McQuaid said they’re leaning towards Providence and the AHL rather than another season in the QMJHL.
-- Brett Harrison, a third-round pick in 2021, is expected to start the season in Providence playing wing rather than his natural center position. While that may seem odd given that the Bruins notably need to develop centers, Langenbrunner explained why they think it’s the right move for the first-year pro.
“We find it’s good to at least introduce a lot of these guys on the wing,” Langenbrunner said. “A little less responsibility, going to gain some energy from some production. If you put him on the wing, you can usually have maybe a little better players with him instead of playing down the lineup in the middle.”
This isn’t some sort of long-term move or career position change or anything. It’s just a matter of easing the 20-year-old Harrison’s transition to pro hockey and not putting too much on his plate at once. Plus, the P-Bruins could have other, more experienced natural centers like Georgii Merkulov, Johnny Beecher, Marc McLaughlin and Curtis Hall, barring one or two of them making the NHL roster. Harrison has a great shot and good size (6-foot-2) that could play well on the wing, and they can always move him back to center at any time.
-- We got our first look at the Bruins’ 2023 draft class, as all five of their picks were present. Some initial impressions of the group: Third-round pick Christopher Pelosi and fourth-round pick Beckett Hendrickson showed some offensive skill, but both have some bulking up to do if they’re going to put their 6-foot-2 frames to good use and win battles down low as they keep moving up levels. There’s plenty of time for that; neither is even heading to college until 2024.
Sixth-round pick Ryan Walsh made a lot of good, smart plays and looked confident with the puck on his stick. He went undrafted twice and didn’t have much hype around when he jumped to the USHL as a 19-year-old last year, but finishing second in the league in points (79 in 61 games) opened some eyes. He’s not flashy, but you can see why he was called “a winning hockey player” on draft day. Walsh is heading to Cornell this fall.
Seventh-round picks Casper Nassen (6-foot-4, 204 pounds) and Kristian Kostadinski (6-foot-5, 214 pounds) are two big Swedes, and they have some muscle that their American counterparts around the same age don’t yet have. They’re longer-term projects with lots of development still needed, but as the saying goes: You can’t teach size.
-- Speaking of size, and we noted this is in our draft recap, but it’s really worth reiterating that it’s clearly been a priority in the Bruins’ recent drafts, especially on defense. All 10 defensemen at development camp were at least six feet tall, and eight of them were 6-foot-2 or taller.
Danielle Marmer, the Bruins’ player development and scouting assistant, pretty much summed up Boston’s approach with this group.
“We don’t want to tell guys – we’ll never say you’re a stay-at-home defenseman,” Marmer said. “A play can’t die on your stick, so you have to have some offensive capability to continue that play and sustain offensive-zone pressure and be able to join the rush, make a play. But there’s so much value in a defender who can be hard and physical and just move the puck quickly.
“…Don’t feel like you have to jump up in the play every time and be this super offensive defenseman. There’s a few guys who are special and can do it that way, but there’s plenty of opportunity and jobs in the NHL for a guy who can just be a really physical, hard defender, and move the puck quick.”
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