Two days after a 3-2 overtime loss to the Ottawa Senators at the TD Garden, the Boston Bruins returned to practice Monday morning at Warrior Ice Arena ahead of a two-game road trip beginning Tuesday night against the St. Louis Blues. One eye-raising move to come out of the practice was young forward Matthew Poitras not skating on a line.
That led to speculation that he might be a healthy scratch against the Blues. However, that doesn't appear to be the case. Monday afternoon, the Bruins announced that they had assigned Poitras to the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Bruins assigning Matthew Poitras to Providence
Poitras played just 11:08 against the Senators on Saturday night, but was this something that has been brewing for a while? Last week meeting with the media ahead of a win over the Seattle Kraken at the TD Garden on Nov. 3, Jim Montgomery had a quote about the second-round pick of the 2022 Entry Draft that maybe this was something that could happen.
“I think it’s his competitive spirit,” Montgomery said. “He puts himself in some bad situations, which he needs to learn from those. But we just love how combative he is. He’s a competitive fighter. He’s a Bruin.''
Is this just a paper move that teams have been known to do during the season? Maybe, but moving Morgan Geekie from a healthy scratch to the first line in practice on Monday is certainly a move to make.
We'll see what ends up happening, but if does indeed go down to Providence, this is certainly a message that Montgomery is sending to his young center. Poitras has shown flashes this season of being a good center after coming off of shoulder surgery last February that ended his 2023-24 season way too early.