Why Bruins should make Mason Lohrei untouchable at NHL trade deadline originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
The Boston Bruins were in danger of going into overtime for a seventh consecutive game Thursday night and potentially losing their 10th game of the season when leading after two periods.
The B’s needed their power play to give them a boost in the final five minutes of regulation and defenseman Mason Lohrei stepped up with a clutch goal to give Boston a 5-4 lead over the defending champion Vegas Golden Knights.
The Bruins were able to protect that lead, snap their three-game losing streak and maintain a tie atop the Eastern Conference standings with the Florida Panthers at 84 points (35-12-14).
Lohrei was called up to the Bruins back on Feb. 20 after Hampus Lindholm came out of the lineup due to injury. This is the rookie d-man’s third NHL stint of the season, and based on the way he has played lately, it’s hard to see him going back to Providence again.
“He’s been good,” Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery said of Lohrei after Thursday’s victory. “I thought the game in Edmonton, nevermind the three assists, I just thought he was really solid all around. I think he continued that. There might have been one game where he wasn’t at the level he was the other three games on the road trip, but I thought he was right back there tonight.
“Talking to him yesterday at practice, in this league, if you have an average or subpar game, that next game you have to get it back right away. I thought he did that for us tonight. I really liked his response.”
The NHL trade deadline is March 8, and the Bruins need to upgrade their blue line to give themselves a great chance of a deep playoff run. Unfortunately for general manager Don Sweeney, he lacks sufficient draft capital, quality prospects and salary cap space to make multiple impactful moves.
Lohrei is one of the Bruins’ best trade assets, but moving the 23-year-old defenseman would be a massive mistake, even for someone like Calgary Flames blueliner Noah Hanifin.
The Bruins don’t have a ton of good defenseman prospects. In The Athletic’s recent Bruins prospect rankings, Lohrei was the only defenseman in the top seven. It’s an organizational weakness for Boston, and trading Lohrei would make it even worse.
Lohrei projects to be a top-four defenseman at the NHL level for a long time, maybe as soon as next season. He’s 6-foot-4 with excellent skating ability, great offensive instincts, good power-play skills, impressive…