By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
A small silver lining to the Boston Bruins missing the Stanley Cup playoffs is that several players still have the opportunity to play meaningful hockey in the spring. The International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) World Championships are held annually concurrently with the Stanley Cup. Boston doesn’t always send players, as the Bruins have typically been involved in playoff runs. However, this year, off the momentum from 4Nations and with the Olympics on the horizon, several Bruins have chosen to compete.
Six Bruins off the main roster are representing their home countries in Stockholm, including David Pastrnak and Elias Lindholm, who both lead their teams in scoring. However, unbeknownst to many Boston fans, a Bruins prospect, Dans Locmelis, is also competing in the tournament for his country of Latvia. He’s no stranger to this stage, he’s having a breakout year, and people are starting to take notice of his game.
Locmelis came built-in with plenty of international experience when Boston drafted him 119th overall in 2022. He had represented Latvia in the World Junior Championships at the U16, U18, and U20 levels and would win a bronze medal with the senior team at the World Championships the year after being drafted. He came to North America for the 2023-24 season to play college hockey at UMass, and was named team captain for the U20 World Juniors and competed in his second World Championships that spring.
Locmelis’ breakout year started this past September, when he helped Latvia qualify for the 2026 Winter Olympics, winning their qualifying group. He built on that achievement by crushing all his freshman year marks in college, racking up 33 points in 40 games. His improved play sparked a second-half run for the Minutemen, which brought them from being unranked and on the wrong side of the NCAA tournament bubble in January to coming within a goal of making the Frozen Four.
With UMass facing heavy turnover on offense, Locmelis was initially expected to stick around for top-line minutes in his junior year, but he impressed the Bruins organization enough to earn a three-year entry-level contract and jump to pro hockey. He joined the Providence Bruins in the AHL for the remainder of the season and didn’t miss a beat, scoring 3-9-12 in six games and forming instant chemistry with Matthew Poitras and Oliver Wahlstrom.
Now, at his third World Championships, Locmelis is starting to draw attention on a broader scale. He has 3-1-4 in four games, is second on the team in scoring, and earned Player of the Game honors in a win over Slovenia. He’s tied in scoring with familiar names such as Mika Zibanejad, Tage Thompson, Clayton Keller, and Sidney Crosby. Perhaps no greater indicator of Locmelis’ performance came after a 7-1 loss to Canada, when Crosby personally approached him after the game.
“Canadian national team captain Sidney Crosby reportedly approached Dans Locmelis after the World Championship game against Latvia, tapped him on the shoulder, and praised his performance on the field. Dans was reportedly confused and didn’t know how to respond.”
Locmelis’ rapid ascension as a prospect will be a boon for a Bruins organization that badly needs quality depth in the pipeline. His vision and playmaking abilities will make him an asset on any team, and his wealth of experience at a higher caliber of play could lead to him not staying as a prospect for too long.
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