The question wasn't if we would see Mason Lohrei in Boston this season; it was when. The answer wound up being the Bruins' 10th game, thanks to injuries to Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort and a suspension of Charlie McAvoy.
The question now is whether Lohrei will ever go back to Providence. If the 22-year-old plays the way he did in his NHL debut Thursday night, a 3-2 shootout win over the Toronto Maple Leafs, then the answer will probably be no.
"He was dynamite," Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said of Lohrei after the game.
Hard to argue. Lohrei, the Bruins' top defense prospect who was drafted in the second round in 2020, looked the part of not just an NHL defenseman, but a top-four defenseman who handled over 21 minutes of ice time.
That was exactly what the Bruins needed him to be. Down a pair of top-four D in McAvoy and Grzelcyk, plus another regular in Forbort, Montgomery could not afford to ease Lohrei in. One of Boston's three call-ups was going to need to take on a top-four role, and Lohrei's combination of size, skating, puck-handling and vision made him the clear choice over the likes of Ian Mitchell, Parker Wotherspoon or anyone else the Bruins might have brought up from Providence.
Lohrei played 17:34 at 5-on-5, and a little over 14 of those minutes came against Toronto's top two lines – one featuring Auston Matthews and Mitch Marner, the other John Tavares and William Nylander. The Bruins outshot the Leafs 11-6 during Lohrei's shifts and did not surrender a single high-danger chance, according to Natural Stat Trick.
Lohrei also played 1:43 on the penalty kill, second-most among Bruins defensemen. He helped hold the Leafs' loaded power play to an 0-for-2 showing with four shots on goal. With Forbort (one of the Bruins' usual top penalty-killers) out and Carlo (another top PKer) taking one of the penalties, Lohrei stepping up on the PK was another necessity for the Bruins, and another task he proved capable of handling.
Oh, and Lohrei registered his first NHL point with an assist on the first goal of the game. After Danton Heinen made a nice diving play to poke the puck back to Lohrei at the point, Lohrei did one of the things he does best: smoothly walk the offensive blue line while surveying his options. As three Leafs all drifted towards him, Lohrei saw his D partner, Brandon Carlo, open to his right, so he slid the puck over to him, and Carlo then hit an uncovered Pavel Zacha in the slot for the goal.
Lohrei was also on the ice for a goal against, but that was a bit of an unfortunate play where Marner's shot deflected in off Lohrei's stick while Lohrei was trying to tie up Matthews' stick. It also came right after Lohrei nearly picked up a second assist at the other end, when he made a great play to dance through Toronto's defense for a zone entry before dishing over to a wide-open Zacha, only for Zacha to be denied by Leafs goalie Ilya Samsonov.
There were far more of those positive plays than unfortunate defensive ones. A good stick to break up a centering pass for David Kampf early in the game. A quick little juke and pass over to Trent Frederic to start a rush later in the first. A key poke check on Tyler Bertuzzi early in the second, followed seconds later by a steal from Bertuzzi. A breakout pass that helped set up a Jake DeBrusk scoring chance later in the second.
In the third period, Lohrei was involved in a couple chances that could have won the game in regulation. Clearly getting more comfortable and confident as the game went on, he jumped into the offense and wound up with a couple looks from in close. With under three minutes remaining, he made a stretch pass up to Heinen, who then fed David Pastrnak for a one-timer off the rush that rang the crossbar.
HockeyStatCards is an X/Twitter account that uses analytics to measure players' "GameScore Impact." When it was all said and done Thursday, Lohrei graded out as the most impactful Bruin by far.
"He played really well," Montgomery said. "His poise with the puck in all three zones was very noticeable. He made a lot of intelligent hockey plays."
That's the same kind of thing Montgomery was saying about another rookie, Matt Poitras, as he successfully made his case to remain in Boston. It's the same kind of thing he was saying about Lohrei during training camp and preseason, too.
Had the Bruins had the same needs and openings on defense as they did at center to start the year, Lohrei might have joined Poitras and Johnny Beecher in making the team out of camp. He came close as it was, sticking around until the very last round of cuts.
The need is there now, though, and Lohrei has an opportunity to force his way into a long-term stay. Grzelcyk is out until after Thanksgiving. While Wotherspoon and Mitchell only figure to be in the lineup until McAvoy and Forbort return over the next few games, Lohrei should get at least a 10-game trial run while Grzelcyk is sidelined, and he could remain in a top-four role that whole time.
And if Lohrei continues to play the way he did Thursday night, it won't be him leaving the lineup even when Grzelcyk does return. Lohrei's ceiling is simply higher than Grzelcyk and Forbort's. If he's reaching or approaching it, the Bruins are a better team with him in the lineup, and their own ceiling for this season goes up.
