If ever a National Hockey League team needed a homegrown solution in the form of young talent, it’s the cap, 2023-24 Boston Bruins.
At the end of the franchise’s centennial in 1924, promising a calendar of connected events, their 2022-23 juggernaut of adventure hit an iceberg in the form of the Florida Panthers and sank. prematurely out of the playoffs has since been split by the levers of the world. NHL payroll.
Not since 1972 has a Bruins team that finished atop the league been so ravaged by the economics of professional hockey.
Watching Gerry Cheevers, Ted Green, Derek Sanderson and Johnny McKenzie jump to a competitive upstart league the same summer Ed Westfall and future keeper Dan Bouchard were plucked in the expansion draft didn’t stop as much as the champagne in preview. celebration time goggles, in Boston’s case a second sip from the Stanley Cup in three years.
The 2023 split will hurt more because there was no parade, no pictures with the Cup.
We know Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito aren’t walking back through that door. The question is will it be Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci?
Without that answer, the Bruins look like a black (and golden) cloud of doubt backed by a bunch of guys named Kevin Shattenkirk, Milan Lucic and James van Riemsdyk.
In other words, the 2023-24 Bruins will go as far as Charlie McAvoy, David Pastrnak, Linus Ullmark and their young core can take them.
Cut to Friday, the final day of the team’s annual Development Camp at the Warrior Arena in Brighton where media gathered around the corner stall of Fabian Lysell, the 20-year-old right-hander from Sweden whose reel best distracting with memories of his young Krejci or even Rick Middleton.
The kid, selected 21st overall in the 2021 NHL draft, has mad skills, there’s no question. But a year in the AHL has left esteemed observers unsure of the NHL’s potential.
Making matters more challenging, as the P-Bruins were upset in the Calder Cup playoffs by the Hartford Wolf Pack, Lysell was flattened by a late hit that knocked him out of the series and, to o recently, canceled his offseason training. To his credit, Lysell ditched his untucked red jersey to fully participate in Friday’s end-of-camp scrimmage.
More AHL seasoning is expected for Lysell, especially since General Manager Don Sweeney used the $6 million he received in cap space from Chicago to retool with right-handed shots.
More interesting in this spot is another righty prospect, 19-year-old center Matt Poitras (pronounced PAUtrah).
In 2022-23, the 2022 second-round pick posted numbers of 16-79-95 in 63 games with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League, historically the top non-professional league of NHL players.
Since last year, Poitras has gained seven pounds (to 181.9) and, according to the Bruins, an inch in height to 6 feet.
“Is that really it?” the 6-foot-1, washed up, minor league defenseman asked himself as he looked up slightly at the youngster still in his skates. Poitras says he will go with the numbers on the camp roster.
“After going through last year, being my second camp, it feels more comfortable, feels stronger. There are fewer nerves … pucks in the basement of his Ontario home.
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The important thing is that Poitras is maturing, and so is his game. The rule is that the Bruins can look at it with the big club for up to nine NHL games, after which they lose a year of player control. If they cut him, he’ll go back to the majors for another season, not the AHL.
Well aware of the Bruins’ situation, Poitras takes a rational approach.
“Obviously, I want to play pro or here with the Bruins in the next couple of years, and that would be great,” he said. “I’m just looking forward to that giving a good cause for you to go to the gym and give your all every day. … make it a difficult decision to cut me.”
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The player with the NHL organization (6-4, 204) but still learning his role is Ohio State defenseman Mason Lohrei.
At 16, he was a forward from Wisconsin who couldn’t get playing time until two defensemen on his junior team both sustained broken bones. Lohrei jumped at the chance to play and has been jumping into the play ever since. After his second season at OSU, the 22-year-old turned pro last spring, joining the P-Bruins.
His marching orders in the next step of his development to defend against NHL forwards” “Close out hard, be more physical.”
The Bruins announced Monday that their centennial season will begin with a selection of the 100 “most famous” players in franchise history and, from within that group, a 20-player All-Centennial Team. As a member of the selection committee, wishing me hockey sense.
Mick Colageo writes about hockey for The Standard-Times. Follow him on Twitter @MickCollageo.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Boston Bruins look to 2022 draft pick Poitras after development camp
