Frederic Brunet is starting to look like what Mason Lohrei was supposed to be for the Boston Bruins. The Bruins drafted Lohrei with the belief that he was going to be their next great offensive defenseman, but his deficiencies in the defensive zone made him fall out of favor with new head coach Marco Sturm, and he is now potentially heading out the door in a trade. With Lohrei's spot opened up, Brunet is ready to burst through that door.
If Lohrei stays, it's hard to see where Brunet fits in this lineup after some of the roster decisions Don Sweeney has already made. With Jonathan Aspriot signed, that makes four left-shot defensemen ahead of Brunet on the depth chart. The Providence star should eventually be ahead of both Aspirot and Lohrei, but prior history suggests the organization won't take that plunge right out of training camp.
The Bruins need to start making some bold decisions, and they should really explore how Brunet looks next to Charlie McAvoy in training camp. Lohrei couldn't hang on that first pairing, but Brunet brings a bit more defensive awareness and could form a formidable pairing with McAvoy if he settles in quickly.
Lohrei's inability to hang on the first pairing hurt Boston's depth, as they had to try and get by with Aspirot in that spot with Hampus Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov holding it down on the second and third pairs. Aspirot performed admirably this season, but he isn't a first-pairing defenseman on a contending team. In a perfect world, the defense group looks like this during the 2026-27 season:
LD | RD |
|---|---|
Frederic Brunet | Charlie McAvoy |
Hampus Lindholm | Trade or FA Acquisition (Nemec, Luneau?) |
Nikita Zadorov | Henri Jokiharju/Jonathan Aspirot |
With this rollout, the Bruins are resetting their development cycle with their defensive group. Lohrei (25) might've fallen behind in his development, but Sturm would now have Brunet (22) as a sort of reset to grow within his system after the former fell out of favor with his staff. As mentioned in a previous article, an acquisition like Luneau (22) would be another defender to grow under Sturm's staff with previous coach Matt McIlvane.
With all the trade rumors surrounding Lohrei, the front office has identified that he may not be a fit for this roster. They might be reluctant to trade a 25-year-old defender before he reaches his prime if there wasn't someone ready to take his spot, but Brunet showed last season in Providence that he could be a steal of a fifth-round pick.
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