Haggerty: Lohrei Here to Stay?

The real question for the Boston Bruins right now is what exactly is going to happen with 22-year-old Mason Lohrei when everybody gets healthy on the back end for Boston.

The Bruins started climbing back to full health when Derek Forbort returned to the lineup for Thursday night’s 5-2 win over the New York Islanders at TD Garden, and Charlie McAvoy will be back from suspension for this weekend’s divisional road tilt against the rival Montreal Canadiens.

That means there won’t be room at the NHL inn for Ian Mitchell and Parker Wotherspoon (who both played well in spot duty) with two B’s defensemen returning, but Lohrei should still stick around while Matt Grzelcyk remains on the shelf with an upper-body injury. Lohrei didn’t factor on the scoresheet in Thursday night’s win and actually had a couple minor misadventures with the puck early in the game that didn’t end up costing the Bruins, but that’s to be expected for a young D-man at the NHL level.

The talented young blueliner still ended up with three shots on net and five shot attempts overall while looking exactly like a Jim Montgomery-style defenseman looking to move the puck and create chances. That’s truly where the value comes in for Lohrei amongst a B’s blue line group where his high-end offensive skills really stand out.

“If you’re in a good scoring area then definitely the mindset is to let it go,” said Lohrei. “Anywhere else on the ice it’s good to reward the forwards for going to the net. That’s not an easy job, so you just let it go.

“It helps you go out there and play without weight on your shoulders. You just want to go out there with confidence to make plays. [Jim Montgomery] is obviously a great coach so it’s fun playing for him.”

This comes after he sat for long stretches of the third period against the Dallas Stars after the Bruins head coach didn’t enjoy his decision-making on a pinch that led to a Wyatt Johnston score in a hotly contested game. The Bruins ended up winning, but understanding time and place becomes a big part of playing the NHL defensemen position where it’s not always an easy road.

In essence it’s all part of the learning process for a 6-foot-4, 210-pound young D-man with all the goods to be a top-4 defenseman in Boston for a long, long time. It comes down to learning trial-and-error lessons with playing time, whether it’s under a reduced spotlight in the AHL or on the biggest stage in the world with the Black and Gold.

“What we wanted him to learn is that it’s 2-0. We’re in control of the game, and we’ve done really well in the first four or five minutes of the [second],” said Montgomery after a season-low 15:33 of ice time in the win over Dallas. “It’s about learning to manage the game. You’re on the road playing a good team, and you can’t take those chances at the offensive blue line. You don’t need to. We can wear them out at the back of the net and make them come 200 feet.”

That philosophy is magnified for a Boston Bruins team that doesn’t have the same kind of firepower as least season and will need to play a simpler game when they seize control on the scoreboard.

Still, for all the learning curve moments and teaching situations it’s also a stone-cold fact Lohrei is one of the few B’s defensemen that’s consistently looking shots on net and offense in the attack zone.