By Matthew Lemear | Follow Me on X @Mlemear331
Boston Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei, once seen as a promising prospect for the Boston organization, has quickly become an essential part of the team’s lineup. It seemed the future had arrived sooner than many had expected, perhaps even faster than Lohrei had anticipated. However, he has had to adapt his game to meet the heightened level of competition in the National Hockey League.
During a recent NESN broadcast, Bruins’ color commentator Andy Brickley highlighted that Lohrei is learning and developing through “on-the-job” training. Luckily for the Bruins, Lohrei is no stranger to playing well at a young age. He has had an impressive hockey career from juniors through college and now at the professional level. Bruins fans hope his success continues and will cross over to his NHL career.
In an interesting twist, although Lohrei is often regarded as a Wisconsin native, he is actually the first player born in Louisiana to compete in the NHL. Mason’s father had a coaching career at the time and was coaching an ECHL team in Baton Rouge when Mason was born. So, despite the family residing in Wisconsin, Lohrei can claim the right to being an answer to a hockey trivia question.
With a unique story like his, Lohrei was destined to have a hockey career. As a young player, he spent three seasons in the United States Hockey League (USHL) with the Green Bay Gamblers organization, the same organization that recently acquired Bruins’ prospect Will Zellers, currently plays for. Throughout 105 USHL games, Lohrei recorded an impressive stat line of 27-69=96. Lohrei’s strong performances earned him the ultimate reward when Boston drafted him in the second round (58th overall) of the 2020 NHL Entry Draft.
Some of Lohrei’s USHL Accolades:
- USHL Most Assists by a Defenseman (2019/2020)
- USHL Second All-Star Team (2019/2020)
- USHL Defenseman of the Year (2020/2021)
- USHL First All-Star Team (2020/2021)
- USHL Most Assists, Goals, and Points by a Defenseman (2020/2021)
After being drafted by Boston, Lohrei chose to play college hockey at Ohio State University, where he showcased his impressive offensive-minded skills alongside current Providence Bruins forward Georgii Merkulov. Throughout two seasons and 71 NCAA games, Lohrei recorded a stat line of 8-53=61. While playing for the Buckeyes, Lohrei gained recognition from scouts for his puck-carrying abilities and powerful shot. Scouting reports highlighted his remarkable upper-body strength, noting that he could generate significant power in his shots with minimal movement.
Some of Lohrei’s NCAA Accolades:
- NCAA Big 10 All-Rookie Team (2021/2022)
- NCAA Big 10 Second All-Star Team (2022/2023)
- NCAA (USCHO) Third Team (2022/2023)
After completing his college career, Lohrei signed an amateur tryout contract with the Providence Bruins in March 2023. Two months later, the Boston Bruins announced that Lohrei had signed a two-year entry-level deal with the team. He made his NHL debut during that following season on November 2nd in a game against Boston’s rival, the Toronto Maple Leafs. Lohrei also recorded his first NHL point in that game by earning an assist. Following the game, analysts on the NHL Network praised Lohrei’s performance, highlighting his solid play and impressive skating ability, especially given his size of 6’5″ and 220 pounds.
Even though Lohrei had a strong debut and impressed during his time in Boston, he split the 2023-2024 season between Boston and Providence to further his development. This year, however, Lohrei has spent the entire season with the big club. Despite experiencing a few healthy scratches early in the season, he has consistently been a part of the lineup since. Ideally, teams would prefer to give a player like Lohrei, at this stage of his career, more time in the American Hockey League to continue improving his game. Unfortunately, due to Boston’s roster situation and how their season has unfolded, Lohrei has stayed at the NHL level and gained valuable experience through this challenging situation.
As was alluded to in the opening, Bruins’ color analyst Andy Brickley noted the significant improvement in Lohrei’s game compared to his performance with Boston last season. Brickley emphasized that having a young player like Lohrei on the NHL roster early can lead to growing pains, describing his experiences as “on-the-job training.” Although some fans have expressed frustration while watching games and observing mistakes from Lohrei on the ice, many still resonate with and support Brickley’s perspective.
Despite these growing pains, Lohrei has been a solid contributor for the Bruins this season, particularly with the improvements in his offensive decision-making. In 64 games played, he has posted a stat line of 5-24=29. He has also accumulated an impressively low 16 penalty minutes, demonstrating good poise and discipline on the ice. Additionally, Lohrei has blocked 90 shots, the third most on the team behind Andrew Peeke (107) and Nikita Zadorov (96).
However, even with his improvements this season, there are still areas in which Lohrei can enhance his game. Two common criticisms include his occasional lack of physicality, particularly given his size, and the need to improve his puck control in his own zone. To date, he has recorded only 20 hits and has committed 88 turnovers, numbers that many would like to see improve as his career progresses.
The bottom line is that everyone needs to be patient with Mason Lohrei as he develops into a regular, everyday NHL player. This young man has the potential to be an impressive offensive defenseman for the Bruins organization for many years, and fans should be excited about that. However, Lohrei needs the opportunity to learn and grow to reach that point. Being thrust into the demanding environment of the NHL early in his career, as Mason is experiencing, is not an easy challenge.
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