3 Boston Bruins prospects that could make the opening night roster

The Boston Bruins are one of the best teams in the NHL. At least, they have been for a very long time. In 2022-23, they had the greatest regular season in the history of the NHL. It was tremendous to watch them all year long.

There are some major changes to this group coming into this year which is making things difficult. It all begins with the fact that Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci both retired. Obviously, their now former captain Bergeron is a significantly bigger loss but they are now down their top two centers.

Both of them were on team-friendly deals too as they were older players so they didn’t get much cap relief from their departure. In most cases, the top two centers leaving would free up so much cap space. This isn’t the case here.

If the Bruins want to be a great team again, their great defense, goaltending, and power play need to lead the way. If all three of those components can be great, their forward depth issue could be masked for a while.

The Boston Bruins will have a whole new look in the 2023-24 season.

There are a few veteran players that the Bruins could realistically trade for as the season goes along. That could take a long time to figure out who though. In the meantime, Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha are the 1-2 punch down the middle. Support from awesome wingers like David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand amongst others will be needed.

There are a few rookies that might be able to step in and help as well. These are the three rookies who are wrapping up camp right now and hoping to make the team:

2. John Beecher

The Boston Bruins can get a lot out of John Beecher’s game if they’re smart.

John Beecher is someone that the Boston Bruins would love to see make some noise. They actually kept their first-round pick in 2019 which happened to be the year that they made it to the Stanley Cup Final.

They were defeated by the St. Louis Blues so it was the 30th overall pick that they retained and they used it on Beecher. Obviously, every team in the league needs their first-round picks to hit more often than not.

Beecher has taken a tad bit longer than some of the other players from his draft. He was a part of that amazing USNTDP group that had tons of players selected in the first round. Obviously, guys like Jack Hughes, Trevor Zegras, Cole Caufield, and Matt Boldy amongst others have become great players already and Beecher would like to follow.

The Bruins have seen a lot of good play from him so far this preseason and he deserves to be on this team. It is unclear if he’ll ever be a top-six caliber player but they could certainly use him in their bottom six. Hopefully, he makes the team and makes an impact.

3. Mason Lohrei

Mason Lohrei would love to make that jump to the Boston Bruins this year.

The Ohio State Buckeyes have a pretty good college hockey program. They are still working to become one of the consistent powerhouses like Michigan, Boston University, Minnesota, or North Dakota amongst others but they are getting there.

Mason Lohrei comes from that program and he was a very good defenseman for them. In the 2022-23 season, his second NCAA year, he had four goals and 28 assists for 32 points. That is amazing production in 40 games for a defenseman. He should be proud of that year.

When Ohio State was done, he signed his pro deal but he didn’t make his NHL debut. He played in five regular-season games for the Providence Bruins and he collected one assist. He then played in three playoff games for them.

Now, he played in the preseason with the Bruins and he did enough to get consideration for the big club. He deserves to get a shot based on how he has played. With how deep their defense is in Boston, it might be tough to get lots of minutes but you never know. He is definitely a prospect to keep an eye on.