When free agency began on July 1, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney wasted little time in landing two of the bigger targets he had. Center Elias Lindholm and defenseman Nikita Zadorov were signed less than an hour after free agency began filling two holes on his roster.
Make no mistake about it, the two veteran additions are going to help big time, but there is still going to be a need for some of the Black and Gold's younger players to step up and fill a big role in Jim Montgomery's lineup. In fact, last season two prospects were inserted into the lineup and made an impact and in 2024-25, they'll both need to be a big part of what Boston does.
Two Bruins prospects who need to step up in 2024-25
Last season, Matthew Poitras and Mason Lohrei played a big role in the Bruins lineup during the season and this upcoming season, they'll be asked to take on a big role again.
Matthew Poitras
The big storyline in training camp last season was what the Bruins were going to do with Poitras and in the end, the second round pick in the 2022 Entry Draft made it very difficult on the team to not keep him in Boston. That's what happened and he showed signs of what the future could look like for him wearing the Black and Gold.
In 33 games last season, he had five goals and 10 assists while averaging 13:24 a night. He played in the middle-six winning 43.7% of his face-offs while finishing with a 49.2% CF%. His season was cut short in February after he underwent shoulder surgery. With Lindholm signed to man the top pivot spot for Montgomery, that will move Pavel Zacha to the wing with Charlie Coyle the No. 2 center and Poitras, who is expected to be fully healthy for camp, to solidfy the third-line center spot and make a jump in Year 2 in the NHL. Boston will need that.
Mason Lohrei
There is a lot of hype surrounding the Bruins top prospect on defense and last season, Lohrei showed flashes in all three zones. The former Ohio State blue liner, a 6-foot-5, 211-pound left-shot averaged 16:57 a night in 41 games with four goals and 13 points. In 11 postseason games, he picked his first-career playoff goal against the Florida Panthers and averaged over 17 minutes a night.
Zadorov filled a need on the left side after Sweeney let Matt Grzelcyk leave for the Pittsburgh Penguins and Derek Forbort left for the Vancouver Canucks in free agency. That gives Boston a top two on the left side of Zadorov and Hampus Lindholm, which should allow Lohrei to play freely on the third pairing. Of course, he could be moved up the lineup, but his puck-moving ability and his style of play are what Boston is going to need in 2024-25.
John Beecher is another youngster who will find himself in the lineup in the bottom-six and the former University of Michigan standout provides speed, penalty killing and a strong presence at the face-off dot, but Poitras and Lohrei are two key younger players who must step up for the Bruins to have success again this upcoming season.