The Boston Bruins are one of the best teams in the NHL right now. At 19-5-5, they have 43 points which has them in first place of the Atlantic Division. The Bruins know that success in the playoffs is not impacted by how the regular season goes but they also know they have to play well to get in.
One player that has helped them play well this year is Matt Poitras. He is a rookie forward who has five goals and eight assists for 13 points in 27 games played. He is going to have a long NHL career.
However, at 19 years old, there is still plenty of room for improvement. That is why the Boston Bruins decided to send him to Sweden with Team Canada for the World Junior Championships.
Of course, playing in this tournament is a tremendous honor. He should be able to go over there and dominate. He will find a ton of open ice while playing at that level compared to the NHL.
The Boston Bruins are sending Matt Poitras to Team Canada for the WJC.
Getting a guy who has had some decent success in the NHL already is a big boost for Team Canada. They left that final roster spot open for an NHL guy who was eligible and it ended up being Poitras.
A lot of Canada's top skill from last year moved on from the roster and weren't replaced with similar talent so guys like Poitras are extra important.
Poitras playing in the NHL at all this year seemed unlikely entering training camp let alone him being a Boston Bruins regular. He earned his spot in the lineup and proved that sending him back to the OHL was a bad idea. By the end of the preseason, his junior career was clearly over.
Now, the grind of the NHL season is settling in so getting him over to this tournament will help him and his development. He will come out of the tournament feeling very good about his game.
He is going to wear the Team Canada Maple Leaf and the Boston Bruins Spoked B in the same season. That is really cool.
You can expect Poitras back on the Bruins once the tournament is over. He hopes to have a Gold Medal coming back with him. Team Canada's first game will be against Finland on Dec. 26th.