How Mason Lohrei Has Continued To Grow Into His NHL Role

The 22-year-old defenseman opened scoring for the Boston Bruins Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres in the 4-1 win.

Mason Lohrei forced a turnover in the neutral zone before crashing the net and knocking in the rebound of James van Riemsdyk’s initial shot. With his third goal of the year, the 22-year-old defenseman put the Boston Bruins up 1-0 Wednesday night against the Buffalo Sabres in the eventual 4-1 win, and continued to display strides in his NHL game.

“Obviously it feels good to put the puck in the net whenever and help the team. Definitely adds a little jump in your step, but felt pretty solid with my game throughout,” Lohrei said Thursday.

Lohrei has played 18 games with the Bruins this season, and was most recently called up from AHL Providence on Dec. 7 when Derek Forbort was placed on long-term injured reserve. Lohrei has been skating on the top pair with Charlie McAvoy – and while the rookie growing pains no doubt appear – he’s shown more consistency and confidence through this stint in the pros.

“What we like about Mason is Mason is very coachable and he wants to be a player,” Bruins coach Jim Montgomery said Thursday. “You see it everyday with how meticulous he is about going out on the ice. We’re very confident that his game is just going to continue to grow.”

The Ohio State product has averaged 17:24 of total ice time, and is looking to make an impact whenever he’s out there. While Lohrei’s offensive upside and swagger was evident since training camp, he’s honed in on the smaller defensive habits – closing out, stick positioning, puck battles – and it has made him a much more useful tool for the B’s.

“That comes with time. The longer I spend here, I just feel like the better I’ll get and the more comfortable I’ll become,” Lohrei said.

Lohrei has some pretty top-notch role models to look up to in Boston, specifically Hampus Lindholm – who played one of his better games of the season Wednesday against Buffalo. The two left-shot defenseman have size on their side – Lohrei stands at 6-foot-5, Lindholm at 6-foot-4 – and Lohrei has been taking note of the well-roundedness of Lindholm’s recent game.

“Me personally, really lucky to have him. He’s been super beneficial to me and taught me a lot so far,” Lohrei said.

“He’s just the ideal 200-foot defenseman. Closes and ends plays so well in the D-zone and then uses his skating and his power to get up ice and join the play. You see his poise with the puck, both on breakouts and at the offensive blue line just making plays left and right.”

Lohrei will likely have an extended opportunity to continue building on his play. Montgomery said Thursday that there is no update on the timeline for Forbort’s return, and that while Grzelcyk practiced in a regular jersey with the team, he’s questionable for this week.

“No update on Forbort. [Grzelcyk] is starting to trend in the right way. He practiced today, we’ll see how he feels tomorrow and continue to ramp him up to when he’s going to be available,” Montgomery said.

Lohrei and the Bruins will be back in action Saturday night at TD Garden when they host the New Jersey Devils for a 7 p.m. puck drop.