How Mason Lohrei Came Into His Own With The Boston Bruins
The rookie defenseman had a strong playoffs while skating on the first pair with Charlie McAvoy.
How Mason Lohrei Came Into His Own With The Boston BruinsMason Lohrei wants to be great.
The 23-year-old defenseman inched closer to that goal with the Boston Bruins in their 2024 playoff run. Lohrei was called up from AHL Providence on April 23 and made his postseason debut in Game 3 of the first round against the Toronto Maple Leafs. From there, the rookie proved he can be a consistent difference maker on the biggest stages. The exciting part? There’s much room to grow.
“I want to be great. I want to win the Stanley Cup. I want to be a top defenseman in the league,” Lohrei said Sunday at the Bruins’ end-of-season media availability. “The experience and being able to have that under my belt now – just going into the summer that much more motivated to not feel like this again.”
Boston saw its season end Friday in a 2-1, Game 6 loss against the Florida Panthers at TD Garden. No matter the sting, the Bruins reaped some positives from their playoff performance, namely the emergence of their young talent. Lohrei, along with teammates like Johnny Beecher, let the postseason stakes fuel instead of intimidate them.
Through 11 games, Lohrei posted four points (one goal, three assists). Lohrei’s first career playoff goal came in Game 1 of the second round. Parker Wotherspoon dumped the puck down to Lohrei from the point. At a sharp, low angle with not much to shoot at, Lohrei sniped it top shelf for the 2-1 advantage in the middle frame.
It was a confident play. Since the beginning of the year, Lohrei has carried himself with a certain swagger and it only heightened in the postseason while skating on the first defensive pair with Charlie McAvoy.
“They sky’s the limit for him. He’s an awesome kid and shows up and works,” McAvoy said Sunday. “I see where he can go and it’s really going to be massive for us to see the strides that he can take this summer and watching him come into his own. I’m excited that I’m going to get to be here for that and help him in any way that I can.”
Lohrei, who was 16 years old during McAvoy’s rookie season in 2017-18, had to get used to playing with guys he looked up to while grinding his way to the NHL.
“I was telling him the other day that every time I look up at the board and I see my name next to his, I have to pinch myself still,” Lohrei said of McAvoy. “He’s such an incredible player…I’ve taken so much stuff from his game.”
One of the biggest developments in Lohrei’s play this season was learning to balance his responsibility in the D-zone with his innate offensive instincts. Lohrei said having tight gaps, closing hard and knowing when to take risks are a few of the things he’s learned from McAvoy.
Heading into the summer with his rookie year complete –11 NHL playoff games, 41 NHL regular-season appearances and 21 contests in the AHL – Lohrei is looking to elevate come training camp. He now understands his role within the group and what it takes to play, and stay, at the top level.
“He has so many good years ahead of him, but they go by fast too – you’ve got to take advantage of it. You don’t want to get comfortable,” Hampus Lindholm said Sunday. “He’s shown what he can do for us, and I think that should be motivation to work even harder and for him to come back because he can really be a standout player for us if he wants to.”
Bruins coach Jim Montgomery began to wholly trust Lohrei in the latter half of the season, bleeding into playoffs. With Kevin Shattenkirk scratched for a handful of games, Lohrei was tasked with quarterbacking the second power play unit alongside Pavel Zacha, Danton Heinen, James van Riemsdyk and David Pastrnak. There was an unwavering belief within the team all year that anyone could be a leader, and it proved true.
“Mason, it’s just fun to see him dancing around out there at such a young age and his first playoffs. He’s just dancing,” Pastrnak said Sunday.
The Bruins are now in an offseason with a projected $21 million in cap space, and will likely look to bolster the personnel on the third pair. However, based on Lohrei’s evolution this year, the team’s top two partners are looking pretty sturdy. It will be on Lohrei to keep it that way.
“It’s truly an honor to play here and wear that Spoked B on my chest,” Lohrei said. “It’s always been my goal to play in the NHL. Obviously I’m a little closer today than I was yesterday, and definitely at the beginning of the year. It’s always been my goal to be an everyday NHLer. Just keep working until that happens.”