Bruins’ Blocking Prospects in the AHL Another Case of Organizational Mismanagement

Struggling with their third line, the Bruins still refuse to bring up one or two of their top prospects from the AHL.

Washington Capitals v Boston Bruins
Washington Capitals v Boston Bruins | Richard T Gagnon/GettyImages

One look at the Boston Bruins prospect pool and you can see why it ranks near the bottom of the NHL. You can also see why they were the only team in the NHL that did not have at least one prospect playing in the World Junior Championships. Having a talented prospect pool is hard when you are trading away your first-round picks and not drafting well in the picks you do have.

That does not mean that they don’t have the prospects to be in the NHL. Defenseman Mason Lohrei has been up with the big club all season long and yes, he has made mistakes, but with the state of the defense, you live and die by those mistakes. Up front, Boston is looking for something, anything to get them going offensively, especially in their bottom six and more importantly, on their third line. Currently, they don’t have the answer on their roster.

Where they do possibly have the answer is with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL). In fact, they have not one, not two, but three players who could be called up and given a chance in the lineup. They just did it last weekend with Fabian Lysell.

Bruins blocking three prospects in AHL

Now first and foremost, I’m not saying to bring up all three prospects, Lysell, Matthew Poitras, or Georgii Merkulov at once, but they at least deserve a chance given the current state of the Black and Gold’s third line. Trent Frederic has been nothing short of bad the last month. He was moved to center on the third line and has stayed there for no reason. Could the Bruins be playing him there for a potential trade? Maybe, but he’s done nothing more than decrease his value. His effort isn’t always what it needs to be. 

That’s where Poitras comes in. He was sent down nearly two months ago to the AHL and he has done nothing but shined down there. If you’re going to run Frederic out as the third-line center on a nightly basis, then why not give your top center prospect a shot? Could it be any worse?

Then there is Marc McLaughlin. He is a great local boy story, undrafted out of Boston College and signed as a free agent, but what has he done lately? Not much. You could bring Merkulov up and let him take some of those shifts. Are the Bruins worried about losing McLaughlin is he needs to be placed on waivers? If so, then do they think that highly of him to keep playing him over Lysell or Merkulov?

Speaking of Lyell, he proved an instant spark against the Columbus Blue Jackets last Saturday. On his very first shift, he won a puck battle which eventually ended up setting up Justin Brazeau for the game’s first goal in a 4-0 victory. He played just under 12 minutes in the game and was more effective than Frederic has been recently. 

Look, the Bruins have always been hesitant to bring up their prospects and give them a good look in the regular season, but right now, it’s what they need. Sweeney will sign a veteran or two before giving a younger player a chance. Poitras, Merkulov, or Lysell, you bring one up and see what they can do. Could it end up being any worse than it is now? This is an issue year after year and it doesn’t appear it’ll change anytime soon.