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:

1. Matthew Poitras

Matthew Poitras has been making a great case for the Boston Bruins.

The Boston Bruins are a very smart organization. They do a lot of things right which is why they have been so good over the last 15ish years. It is a combination of great players and great management so everyone involved should be happy.

With that in mind, drafting well as a winning team can be very difficult because of the nature of the draft. A team like the Bruins has traded a lot of first and second-round picks over the years in order to get NHL talent in their “win now” window.

That is why they need to hit on the draft picks that they do make every now and again. Matthew Poitras could be someone that turns out to be a major win for the Bruins.

Poitras was selected in the second round (54th overall) by Boston in 2022. Since then, he has been making the most out of his opportunity. He is continuing to give it his all which is all he can do when there are limited spots. He deserves to be there longer.

Cutting Poitras now would make you wonder what the point of camp and preseason actually is for players like him. He played very well and deserves to start the year with the team. The Bruins would look very smart to keep him and see him score early in the year.

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.