Mason Lohrei Makes His NHL Debut Tonight: What To Know About the Top Bruins Prospect

Tonight, the Boston Bruins will take on the Toronto Maple Leafs in an Original Six showdown at 7:30. A four game suspension to defenseman Charlie McAvoy, a long-term upper body injury to Matt Grzelcyk, and Derek Forbort’s absence tonight means the Bruins three AHL call-ups from Providence (Mason Lohrei, Parker Wotherspoon, and Ian Mitchell) will all be in action tonight.

22-year old Mason Lohrei headlines the group, making his NHL regular season debut as the Bruins number one prospect, per The Athletic. Lohrei is a left-shot defenseman with great size and skill, checking in at 6’4”, 195. Lohrei was selected by the Bruins in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft with the 58th overall pick.

Lohrei was a standout blueliner in the USHL with the Green Bay Gamblers, leading the USHL in assists by a defenseman in 2020 and 2021, scoring the most goals by a defenseman in 2021, capturing the most points by a defenseman in 2021, and capping that off with USHL defenseman of the year honors in 2021. He was a USHL second team all-star in 2020, and a first team all-star in 2021.

After being selected by the Bruins in 2020, Lohrei played two collegiate seasons at Ohio State. He barely skipped a beat from his USHL days in Green Bay, leading the Buckeyes in assists in his freshman season with 25 helpers, and was selected to the All-Big Ten Freshman team. Lohrei returned to Columbus for the 2022-23 season, and recorded 28 assists and 4 goals, helping lead Ohio State to the the second round of the NCAA tournament, before they were knocked out by the eventual champions Quinnipiac. After the Buckeyes loss to Quinnipiac, Bobcats Head Coach Rand Pecknold was highly complimentary of Lohrei’s play: “He’s a special player. He’s elite. He should probably be in the NHL right now and probably will be in about a day or two, is my guess.”

After Ohio State’s elimination, Lohrei signed an amateur tryout contract with the Providence Bruins, and featured in five regular season games and three playoff games with the club, registering an assist in those eight games before the P-Bruins were eliminated.

Lohrei played in four of the Boston Bruins’ six preseason contests this year, and registered one goal, one assist, four shots, and a +2. Lohrei also garnered much of the Bruins’ ice time in the preseason, ranking first on the team in time on ice against Buffalo (an impressive 29:01 TOI) and Washington (24:40 TOI). Lohrei was one of the last Bruins cuts coming out of camp and the preseason, but he handled his reassignment to Providence in stride, racking up four assists and a +2 in seven games.

Per The Athletic’s prospect power rankings “Lohrei is a big defenseman who is highly skilled and can make a lot of tough offensive plays. His skating is quite heavy though and whether he can make stops or play at an NHL pace will be his best test as a pro. When you’re that big and skilled there is likely a place for you somewhere in an NHL lineup though.” Lohrei’s skating ability is something to take notice of tonight, and he will have his hands full with the likes of Auston Matthews, Mitchell Marner, and William Nylander. Bruins Head Coach Jim Montgomgery will have last change tonight, so it will be interesting to see if he tries to protect Lohrei in the defensive zone and how he strategizes those matchups.

For a franchise that ranks dead last in the NHL Prospect Pipeline Rankings, Lohrei’s ability to contribute will be a major X factor. However, Bruins fans should stay patient with the youngster and expect a bit of nerves on the ice tonight (as even Lohrei himself admitted yesterday), especially as Lohrei goes up against some of the NHL’s premier offensive talent on Toronto’s roster. There will be growing pains, but there will undoubtedly also be some flashes tonight from Boston’s top prospect.

Lohrei is expected to skate on Boston's second defensive pairing with veteran Brandon Carlo tonight.