Mason Lohrei started this postseason in Providence, playing games in the AHL as the Bruins began their first-round series against Toronto. If he keeps playing like he has in the six games he’s played since getting called back up, the 23-year-old rookie defenseman may never see Providence or the press box again.
Lohrei has been a difference-maker since entering the lineup, driving transition and making plays offensively in a way that Boston’s defensemen had been struggling to as a group. His defending, the one question mark in his game during the regular season, has been more than sturdy enough.
On Monday night, Lohrei delivered the signature moment of his career thus far with his first career playoff goal, one that proved to be the game-winner in the Bruins’ 5-1 Game 1 victory over the Florida Panthers.
Lohrei pinched down the wall to help keep the puck in the zone. Then, instead of retreating, he stayed low in the zone and took a pass from Parker Wotherspoon. Lohrei could have then centered a pass for David Pastrnak, which is never a bad play, but he saw a better option. Realizing that Sergei Bobrovsky had gone down early, Lohrei took advantage of the little bit of open space over the Florida goalie’s shoulder and sniped a shot top shelf.
Lohrei added an assist on the Bruins’ fourth goal of the night, making a strong play out of the corner in the defensive zone to get the puck up to James van Riemsdyk, who then sprung Justin Brazeau on a breakaway.
Lohrei nearly scored another goal before he actually did, hitting the post from a low angle while Bobrovsky was down on the ice. While he didn’t finish the play, the chance only happened because of his powerful skating and puck protection on a zone entry and push deep into the offensive zone, which included a through-the-legs dangle at one point.
Not only is Lohrei bringing a needed skillset, but he’s also filling a lineup hole that was one of the Bruins’ biggest question marks going into the playoffs. He has been paired with either Charlie McAvoy or Brandon Carlo – mostly Carlo on Monday, mostly McAvoy in the Toronto series – rounding out a top four that had remained unsettled as the playoffs began.
Matt Grzelcyk had long been McAvoy’s partner, but he had an inconsistent regular season and has not held up in past postseasons. With Grzelcyk’s contract expiring at the end of the season, Bruins management has been hopeful that Lohrei would be ready to step up and run with that job.
The question was whether he was ready to do it now. Lohrei certainly showed flashes of his potential during his 41 NHL games in the regular season, but his defensive play wasn’t at the level the Bruins demand of their blue-liners consistently enough.
Lohrei fell out of the defensive rotation down the stretch, playing just two of the final 14 regular-season games. Jim Montgomery and his staff had seemingly decided that Grzelcyk was ahead of him on the depth chart and had the inside track to a top-four job in the playoffs. There likely wasn’t room in the lineup for both of them given their somewhat similar skillsets. The Bruins sent Lohrei down to Providence on April 12, called him back up a week later for one practice, and then sent him back for another weekend.
Since returning ahead of Game 3 against Toronto, Lohrei has taken advantage of the opportunity and has seemingly gotten better and more confident every time out. Montgomery was especially pleased with the rookie’s play in Games 6 and 7 against the Maple Leafs, saying that he hoped it would be his “coming-out party.”
“Game 6 and 7 were really moments for him that I hope it's his coming-out party,” Montgomery said after Game 7. “Like, ‘I'm an NHL player. I'm gonna help the Bruins from now on.’ Knowing you belong, knowing how much you mean to the growth of our team, and how dynamic he makes us should be really comforting.”
Welcome to the party, then. Monday night was an even better performance than Games 6 and 7. Montgomery, sometimes reserved in his praise of young players, was downright gushing about Lohrei after the game, and again referenced the unique "dynamic" he brings to the ice.
“His poise with the puck and willingness to hang on to it to find a better play is amazing,” Montgomery said. “The goal he scored, and before when he hit the post, that whole shift, it gives confidence to the team. But his ability to do that in big moments, some players have that, like Pasta has it. You think, ‘Why isn’t he shooting?’ Well, he’s waiting for five-hole to open or something. He has that ability as a defenseman to make that kind of play. … His ability there is something that gives our team another dynamic to us.”
The Bruins have been no strangers to rookie defensemen jumping into playoff action and announcing their arrival on the biggest stage. Torey Krug in 2013 and Charlie McAvoy in 2017 come to mind in that vein.
Many draft analysts thought it was a reach when the Bruins drafted Lohrei in the second round in 2020. If he’s following in the footsteps of Krug and McAvoy, though, then the Bruins are going to be one happy franchise.