If a National Hockey League team ever needed a homegrown solution in the form of young talent, it’s the cap-strapped, 2023-24 Boston Bruins.
On the cusp of a 1924 franchise centennial promising an emerging schedule of related events, their 2022-23 juggernaut of destiny that struck an iceberg in the form of the Florida Panthers and prematurely sank out of the playoffs has since been gutted by the leverages of the NHL’s salary cap.
Not since 1972 has a Bruins team that finished atop the league standings been so ravaged by professional hockey’s economics.
Watching Gerry Cheevers, Ted Green, Derek Sanderson and Johnny McKenzie jump to an upstart rival league the same summer that Ed Westfall and goalie of the future Dan Bouchard were plucked in an expansion draft didn’t sting as much as the champagne in a pre-goggles era of celebration, in Boston’s case a second sip from the Stanley Cup in three years.
The gutting of 2023 hurts more because there was no parade, no pictures with the Cup.
We know Bobby Orr and Phil Esposito are not walking back through that door. The question is will Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci?
Without that answer, the Bruins resemble a black (and gold) cloud of doubt complemented with a sprinkle of has-beens 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 the younger core can take them.
Cut away to Friday, the final day of the team’s annual Development Camp at Warrior Arena in Brighton where a hoard of media surrounded the corner stall of Fabian Lysell, a 20-year-old right winger from Sweden whose highlight reel teases with memories of a young Krejci or even Rick Middleton.
The kid, chosen 21st overall in the 2021 NHL draft, has mad skills, there is no question. But a year in the AHL has left respected observers unconvinced as to his NHL viability.
Making matters more challenging, as the P-Bruins got ragdolled 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, until recently, postponed his offseason training. To his credit, Lysell ditched his red, no-contact sweater to fully participate in Friday’s camp-concluding scrimmage.
More AHL seasoning is anticipated for Lysell, especially since General Manager Don Sweeney used the $6 million he got in cap space from Chicago to restock with right-handed shots.
Of greater intrigue in this space is another right shot, 19-year-old center Matt Poitras (pronounced PAUtrah).
In 2022-23, the 2022 second-round pick put up 16-79-95 totals in 63 games with the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League, historically the highest producing amateur 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 he really all that?” a 6-foot-1, washed-up, beer-league defenseman asked himself while looking slightly up at the young man still in his skates. Poitras says he’ll go with the numbers on the camp roster.
“Having gone through it last year, having it be my second camp, feels more comfortable, feel stronger. There’s less nerves … so it’s easier,” said Poitras, whose natural hand-eye has been enhanced by countless hours shooting and stickhandling pucks in the basement of his Ontario home.
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The important thing is Poitras is maturing, and so is his game. The rule is the Bruins can look at him with the big club for up to nine NHL games, after which they lose a year of player control. If they cut him, he goes back to major junior for another season, not the AHL.
Well aware of the Bruins’ situation, Poitras is taking a realistic approach.
“Obviously, I want to be playing pro or here with the Bruins in the next two years, and that would be awesome,” he said. “Just looking forward to that gives you a good reason to go to the gym and give your all every single day. … I just want to attack every summer with the idea of trying to make main camp and trying to make the team and make it a difficult decision to cut me.”
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The player with the NHL body (6-4, 204) but still learning his position is former 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 collarbones. Lohrei jumped at the opportunity 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 phase of his development to defend against NHL forwards” “Closing hard, be more physical.”
The Bruins announced Monday that their centennial season will kick off with the selection of a top 100 “most-legendary” players in franchise history and, from inside that group, a 20-player All-Centennial Team. As a member of the selection committee, wish me hockey sense.
Mick Colageo writes about hockey for The Standard-Times. Follow him on Twitter @MickColageo.
This article originally appeared on Standard-Times: Boston Bruins look to 2022 draft pick Poitras after development camp
