It was a mild surprise when Matt Poitras was skating as the 13th forward at Monday’s Boston Bruins practice, suggesting he would be a healthy scratch for Tuesday’s game in St. Louis. It was a bigger surprise when the team announced a couple hours later that Poitras had been assigned to AHL Providence.
It is worth noting off the top that it’s possible this is just a “paper transaction” – a move made to bank some daily salary cap space but that doesn’t result in Poitras ever actually reporting to Providence. In that case, Poitras would remain with Boston and continue to practice with the big club. It is unclear if that’s what this is, though. We may not know for sure until Poitras pops up on the ice at either Providence practice on Tuesday or Boston morning skate in St. Louis.
(TUESDAY UPDATE: It is not just a "paper transaction." Poitras did not travel with Boston to St. Louis and was instead at Providence practice on Tuesday.)
It could also be a real demotion. Poitras’s ice time has dwindled and his offense has dried up recently, as he has averaged 11:51 time on ice over the last four games while recording zero points and just two shots on goal during that time. His line with Charlie Coyle and Cole Koepke spent minimal time on the attack the last two games, and Poitras also committed a turnover that led to an Ottawa 3-on-1 early in Saturday’s 3-2 overtime loss.
“More of an impact on the game,” Montgomery said Monday – after practice but prior to the assignment – when asked if there’s something he wants to see more of from Poitras. “Making more plays. Understanding our structure.”
It’s worth noting that while healthy-scratching Poitras would be Montgomery’s call, sending him to Providence would be up to general manager Don Sweeney.
Poitras’s 5-on-5 analytics have been impressive this season, albeit in fairly sheltered minutes (lots of offensive-zone starts, not facing a lot of top lines or defense pairings). He has the best Corsi (53.4%) and expected goals share (56.1%) on the team, signaling that he has helped drive possession in the Bruins’ favor in the role he has been asked to play.
That possession has not translated to a ton of scoring chances or goals, though. The Bruins have had 8.47 high-danger chances per 60 minutes with Poitras on the ice and 1.16 goals per 60, which rank 16th and 17th, respectively, out of 22 Bruins skaters this season.
That said, the Bruins also aren’t giving up anything with Poitras on the ice at 5-on-5. On a per-60-minute basis, he has been on the ice for the fewest shot attempts (50.06) and high-danger chances (4.24) against of anyone on the Bruins.
Demoting Poitras to Providence would seem harsh. There are certainly other players who have been bigger problems during Boston’s lackluster start to the season. It wouldn’t even really be fair to call Poitras a problem, even with the recent dip in his play.
But Poitras is also a 20-year-old second-year pro who is still developing. If he were to report to Providence and play games there, he could play more minutes in all situations, especially on the power play and penalty kill. Poitras has not been a part of Boston’s penalty kill and has only occasionally been used on the power play.
The Bruins would also like to see Poitras learn to better protect himself, with Montgomery noting on multiple occasions this season that he still puts himself in harm’s way too often. They do not want to see him have a second straight season cut short by injury.
With Poitras out of the lineup Monday, Morgan Geekie not only re-entered it after being a healthy scratch for the last three games, but he did so in a first-line role next to David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. It could be a golden opportunity for Geekie to try to get on track amid an abysmal start to the season that has seen him record zero goals and two assists in 11 games.
“Be aggressive. Play on his toes,” Montgomery said when asked what he hopes to see from Geekie. “You have to get on the forecheck. Being reliable in our structure.”
Johnny Beecher and Mason Lohrei both spent time in Providence last season and came back to Boston better for it. Poitras was not eligible to play in the AHL last year due to his age, so he spent all his time in Boston before suffering a season-ending shoulder injury. If this is a real Providence assignment and not just a paper transaction, the hope would be that Poitras makes the most of it like Beecher and Lohrei before him.