As the Boston Bruins 2024-25 season continues to spiral out of control, a lot of eyes are shifting to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL), and why not? There are some prospects down there that are having good seasons, and unlike their counterpart in the NHL, they will be playing in postseason hockey.
Fraser Minten was acquired at the trade deadline by Boston in a trade with the Toronto Maple Leafs in a deal that sent defenseman Brandon Carlo to Toronto. During his short time with the P-Bruins, he has been impressive and playing well. However, another prospect that has spent time in Boston the last two years is currently tearing it up in the AHL.
Matthew Poiitras remains on AHL heater
Center Matthew Poitras has shown flashes in the NHL, but he also has been going up and down between Boston and Providence. During his current stint, there has been no player hotter than the second-round pick of the 2022 Entry Draft.
In Tuesday night’s 6-3 loss to the Charlotte Checkers, Poitras scored a goal, which raised his consecutive point steak to nine games, and in that span, he ahs 13 points overall. His goal against the Checkers was a power-play marker, with Minten and Georgii Merkulov picking up the assists. He will have a chance to extend his point streak to 10 games on Wednesday night with another matchup with Charlotte.
Poitras is an interesting player going forward for Boston. He is no doubt an NHL player, but the case could be made that he needs to add to strength to take on the physicality of the NHL on a nightly basis. He had his 2023-24 season cut short in February of 2024 after undergoing shoulder surgery.
Going forward, there are a lot of questions surrounding what the makeup of the 2025-26 roster in Boston is going to look like. Without a doubt, there are going to be changes and subtractions and additions. When that is all said and done, where does Poitras fit in is going to be one of many questions facing the front office.
Fabian Lysell is currently with Boston on their West Coast trip and it’s unclear if he’ll remain there when they come back next week, but when the Calder Cup Playoffs start, Providence will have no shortage of options to put in the lineup and if Poitras can continue to play as well as he is now, then maybe a deep run is in store for them.