Mason Lohrei will make his NHL debut on Thursday, and the Bruins' top defense prospect will not be eased into anything. The 22-year-old will play top-four minutes right off the bat, and he'll do so against one of the league's most talented offenses in the Toronto Maple Leafs.
"I think you're gonna see him out there a lot," Boston coach Jim Montgomery said Wednesday.
The Bruins don't really have much of a choice. Their best defenseman, Charlie McAvoy, is serving a four-game suspension for a check to the head on Monday. Another top-four defenseman, Matt Grzelcyk, is out until after Thanksgiving after being placed on long-term injured reserve with an upper-body injury. A third regular, Derek Forbort, is questionable for Thursday with an undisclosed injury.
Lohrei was one of three defensemen called up from AHL Providence on Wednesday, along with Ian Mitchell and Parker Wotherspoon. It's possible all three will play Thursday if Forbort is unable to go (UPDATE: Forbort is indeed out for Thursday). Lohrei clearly has the most upside and talent from that group, which is part of the reason he'll be the one getting top-four minutes.
But the Bruins wouldn't be throwing their 2020 second-round pick right into the fire like this if they didn't think he could handle it. They still want to make sure they're doing what's best for a player who figures to be a key part of their long-term future.
"We think he's ready for this league and we think that he's gonna play well in this league," Montgomery said. "I don't know what the minutes are gonna be, but he's playing top-four minutes, so it should be anywhere from 18 [or more], depending on special teams."
Lohrei had a great training camp and preseason and nearly made the opening-night roster, but wound up being the very last cut. The Bruins were comfortable with their six established NHLers on the back end, and keeping Lohrei as a seventh defenseman who didn't play every night wouldn't have been great for his development.
In seven games in Providence this season, Lohrei has zero goals, four assists and a plus-2 rating. Montgomery said the feedback from the Bruins' staff down there has been positive.
"He's just getting better and better since the season started, which is the sign of a guy who's a good hockey player," Montgomery said. "Camp, he was excellent. So, we feel he can go in and do a real good job for us."
Lohrei will pair up with Brandon Carlo, which makes a lot of sense for a few reasons. Lohrei spent most of his time in training camp with either Carlo or McAvoy, so with McAvoy suspended, Carlo is the partner he has the most familiarity with by default. Carlo can also be the defensive-minded security blanket that allows the more offensive-minded Lohrei to get forward and do what he does best. Plus, having two defenders who are at least 6-foot-5 next to each other carries an obvious appeal.
"I just liked their length, their mobility, and being able to force a lot of dump-ins or kill a lot of plays before it even gets into our end," Montgomery said of the pairing.
Lohrei acknowledged some nerves ahead of his first NHL regular-season game, but said that's part of what makes it "so special and so fun." He said he'll have some family and friends in the stands at TD Garden, but wasn't yet sure exactly how many. And as for the message from the Bruins' coaching staff?
"Simple," he said. "Just play simple, play fast, but in the system. Don't need to force anything. That's kind of it."
Lindholm takes on No. 1 role
When you look at the Bruins' individual point totals so far this season, perhaps the most surprising number is the zero next to Hampus Lindholm's name. The veteran defenseman had a career-high 53 points last season en route to a fourth-place finish in Norris Trophy voting.
This year, however, he remains stuck on a goose egg through nine games. He's still had some good games for sure, and he has gotten a little more involved offensively in recent games, but ultimately part of his job is to contribute on the score sheet, and the points have to follow at some point.
Perhaps being relied on as the Bruins' unquestioned No. 1 defenseman while McAvoy is suspended will help get Lindholm jumpstarted. Last season, the best offensive stretch of his career came while McAvoy was out, with Lindholm putting up 13 points in the 13 games McAvoy missed early in the season while recovering from shoulder surgery.
"I do," Montgomery said when asked if he expects Lindholm to rise to the occasion. "I think the two of them [Lindholm and McAvoy], obviously when they're in the lineup, they give us an advantage over most teams, just because of the way they control the game when they're out there. The opportunity not only with him, but with Forbort out, he goes number one PK.
"He's gonna be out there for almost every D-zone draw and have an opportunity to be out there for half the O-zone draws. Just managing his minutes, which he's used to last year, but him probably playing 26-28 minutes would not be a surprise tomorrow."
Lindholm has spent most of this season -- and last season -- paired with Carlo, but will now be with Kevin Shattenkirk at least to start Thursday's game. Those two have clicked well in limited ice time together, with the Bruins out-attempting opponents 38-19 during the 24:37 they've played together at 5-on-5.
Montgomery reacts to McAvoy suspension
Jim Montgomery obviously isn't thrilled to be without McAvoy for four games, especially since it's a tough stretch with games against the Maple Leafs, Red Wings, Stars and Islanders. But he also didn't sound like someone who was particularly surprised or outraged by the Department of Player Safety's ruling.
"The league does an extensive review. All I know is I would not want their job," he said. "I don't think you can win, if it's too long or too short. We respect the job that they do and we're gonna respect their decision. I'd like to have him back sooner, but I coach them."
McAvoy has not been made available for comment since the hit.
Poitras looking for a place to live
Matt Poitras has checked off a couple key items on his to-do list already this season. He made the Bruins' opening-night roster. Now he's sticking around for a 10th game and beyond, which will officially begin his entry-level contract and pretty much close the book on any talk of being sent back to the OHL Guelph Storm, at least for a while.
The 19-year-old center's primary goal now is to keep the same mindset that has gotten him this far.
"I'm still going to try and play with the pressure and play with the mindset that I'm trying to make the team and trying to still stick around here for the rest of the year," Poitras said Wednesday. "Just because I'm playing my 10th game doesn't mean I'm gonna be here for the rest of the year. So for me, it's just keep working hard and keep doing the little things."
A secondary goal, and one that is also quite important, is finding a place to live. Poitras has been living out of a hotel since arriving in Boston for rookie camp in mid-September. Now that he knows he's sticking around longer-term, it's time to change that.
"A couple options were presented [by the team]," he said. "Just take some time, talk to my parents and kind of see what they think. And then figure it out."
"The hotel's not bad, but it's probably time to get out of there," he added.
Poitras said he still has some of his stuff at his billet family's house in Guelph, but that his mom is planning to pick it up and bring it to Boston at some point soon.
Poitras finished out Monday's comeback win over the Panthers centering the top line between David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha. Those three remained together in practice Wednesday, indicating that Montgomery will keep them together at least to start Thursday's game against Toronto.
"It's great. Those two guys are two really skilled players," Poitras said. "For me, it's just kind of easy. It's finding little open spaces and they'll be able to move in, make plays, feed me the puck and I'll give it right back. Obviously, Pastrnak is a really good goal-scorer. I see myself as kind of a playmaker, so I'm gonna be looking for him and he can kind of do his job and score."
