Boston Bruins Development Camp: Day 2 recap, thoughts and reactions

July 4th may be a national holiday for most Bruins fans but don’t tell their prospects that. Day 2 of the Bruins’ 2023 development camp saw 3 sessions take place at 10:00 am (forwards and goalies), 11:10 am (full group) and 12:10 pm (defense and goalies). The 11:10 session was the first time we saw the entirety of the prospect group, including some new faces, and the first time we got to see the players take place in game simulation drills. So without further adieu, here’s your recap:

Standouts

• Matthew Poitras is quickly becoming a must-watch player at this development camp. On the one zone, 3-on-3 Poitras broke the ankles of Jackson Edward with a move that drew an echoing ‘ooooooooooo’ from the crowd. He followed that dangle up with a top shelf backhand off of two posts. Besides that highlight reel play, I’m really impressed with the small details in Poitras’ game. He engineered a great cycle between himself, Brett Harrison and Oskar Jellvik which led to so solid chances and a hit post. He was able to protect the puck against bigger defenders and make crisp, accurate passes in traffic without losing speed. With scrimmages on the horizon Friday, I’m excited to watch him with the full sheet of ice at his disposal.

• Riley Duran is a FORCE when he gets in close to the net. Duran was able to dominate in net front drills getting inside position on defensemen and putting himself in position for deflections and redirections. On one of the 2-on-2 rushes Duran made an impressive power move around a defender where he lowered his center of gravity, protected the puck out wide, and was able to cut in with little to no space to work with. Duran has done nothing but push his ceiling higher with each year he develops, and there’s no reason to expect he won’t do that again.
• It may be the UMass bias, but Dans Locmelis really excites me as a prospect. He’s a very smooth and skater that excels in transition and also stood out in the in-zone drills. He was almost always the one driving the play in transition drills and took some impressive shots with purpose leading to rebound goals. He also made a silky move during the net front tip drills and showed off his ability to drive offense while in-zone too. He has a high ceiling and will be fun to watch in the NCAA.

Notes

• Lysell Watch: Fabian Lysell was on the ice and participated in the 11:10 session wearing a maroon (or merlot) non-contact jersey. Lysell took part in the transition/rush drills and despite the injury limitations, he’s still an electric player to watch. His speed jumps out at you as he’s able to accelerate from 0 to 100 with ease.  His passing was crisp, his shots echoed off posts and cross bars, and he’s still an elite prospect fans should be excited about.

Mason Lohrei is the best defenseman on the ice whenever he’s out there. What impressed me most was the ease with which he retrieved pucks off the boards and started the breakout. It’s not that he wasn’t a standout today, it’s that I’m running out of space to devote to how much I like this player.

Mason Langenbrunner has looked like a different player this year. He walks the blue line well with the puck on his stick and has a noticeable jump to his step. Could be a solid two-way defender for the team if continues to improve.

Jonathan Myrenberg, acquired from Vancouver in the Jack Studnicka trade, is a solid, fundamentally sound skater who has quietly had a very good week. Accurate passer, good on puck retrievals, and absolutely WIRED some wristers home on Day 2.

Kristian Kostadinski (camp invitee) is an absolute mountain of a man, listed at 6’5″, 214 lbs (which seems light in a good way). He struggled with the edge work and skill-based drills yesterday but when it came to transition drills and net front defending, he was a force. He cleared out every forward during the tip drill and moved relatively well covering faster skaters. I’m not saying he’s a lock by any means but he’s definitely interesting.

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Jellvik has good straight-line speed, but seeing how shifty he is being defended one-on-one is fun to watch

Cole Spicer had an up-and-down day. He scored during the 2-on-2 and 3-on-3 net front drills but wasn’t as impressive in transition

Harrison is a good player but I’d like to see him pop a little more

Another good day from Gasseau