What to Expect From Mason Lohrei in Year 2 – Hockey Writers – Boston Bruins

If there’s one thing to say about the Boston Bruins, it’s that backcourt depth has been a focal point in their roster construction. Dating back to the 2011 Stanley Cup Championship team, the established blueline was one of the deepest in the league. Head coach Claude Julien can bring out any number of pairings and can be counted on to get the job done. Fast forward to the 2024-25 season and the Bruins are in familiar territory.

General manager Don Sweeney has put together one of the deepest blue lines in the league. They have top talent in Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, and they also have tight end Brandon Carlo in the fold. Sweeney bolstered the blue line with Andrew Peeke at the deadline and added a big physical specimen in Nikita Zadorov. It’s a solid line and should be among the best in the league. This is also not considering Mason Lohrei, who will look to take the next steps in his young career.

Lohrei Intends to Take Next Steps

Lohrei will have every opportunity to take the next steps in his career. With the Bruins parting ways with defensemen like Matt Grzelcyk and Derek Forbort, there is a spot for him on the roster. He may not play in the elite, but he should be a lock for top four minutes. If head coach Jim Montgomery feels he needs to take the pressure off of him, he could move to the third team. Lohrei has impressive talent and is a great young building block to have in the backfield.

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Lohrei showed a lot of promise with the Bruins in the 2023-24 season. While only skating in 41 games, he went on to score four goals and 13 points. Lohrei bounced back and forth from the American Hockey League (AHL) Providence Bruins to the big club roster a few times, but earned himself a full-time spot during the Stanley Cup Playoffs. He finished with one goal and four points in 11 games and was one of the best defensemen for the Bruins during that time.

With Grzelcyk out of the picture, Lohrei was able to see enough opportunity on the power play. That’s where Sweeney saw him at least.

“We’ve got Mason Lohrei now in a position where it allows him to … maybe put him on the secondary power play and grow his offensive game the right way,” Sweeney noted. “It shouldn’t be more than his skating sometimes playing 20 minutes a night at his best. He can, and he’s done a good job, but he balances things.”

Lohrei brings a special combination of zones and can slide well with a big body. Also, he brings skill and is a good puck-moving defender, so having an offensive boost on the power play would be a huge addition. The Bruins finished 14th in the NHL in man advantage last season with a 22.2 percent success rate. Lohrei can take the next steps individually, but the biggest push would be to play big minutes.

Lohrei Can Log Big Minutes

Lohrei averaged 16:57 minutes on ice in 2023-24, which is good for a rookie. However, given the profit in the background, a bigger role could be carved by Lohrei. When he was inserted into the Bruins’ defense, Lohrei spent time moving up and down the lineup. He played with McAvoy, Kevin Shattenkirk, and Carlo. His best work came with Carlo. The best thing you can have if you make a rookie mistake, is a top leader is there to clean up the mess.

When it comes to creating offense and pressuring opponents, playing with Shattenkirk has been beneficial. As for the results, Carlo and Lohrei finished with a 10-5 goal difference. That success carried over into the play-offs.

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In a small sample of 30 minutes of ice time together, the duo did a good job of creating offense and stifling the opposition. The duo finished with 1.8 expected goals and 0.7 expected goals. They finished with one goal, 1-0. Ideally, that is something to look forward to. Lohrei will be a good offensive minded player to go along with Carlo and they will both explode well on the ice. There is no shortage of options for defensive pairings, but the expectation is for Lohrei to take the next step and be something more.

Lohrei Belongs in Boston

Of all the young players in the Bruins’ pipeline, Lohrei belongs in Boston. For a team that aims to be small, this is the way to go. With a blue line led by a veteran, the young Lohrei serves as a building block. McAvoy had plenty of kind words to say about Lohrei, showing encouragement to the young player.

“The sky’s the limit for him,” McAvoy said of Lohrei in May. “And he has a very high ceiling. His skill is off the charts. … He worked really hard. And he deserves to be here.”

Lohrei will have every opportunity in front of him to step up his game. Now it’s up to him to take it.