Bruins Prospect News and Notes

cshea

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Lohrei had a goal and two assists last night, bringing his season total up to 5-9=14 in 9 games.

I don't know much about the USHL, so not sure exactly where the excitement meter should be, but so far, so good. Schmaltz also had a goal and two assists in the game.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Understood, but I'd be really upset if the B's (or some other team I care about - Team USA or whatever) were on the losing end of that.

Unless of course there's a super slo mo replay that shows it crossed the line in time.
 

cshea

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It’s the USHL. Guessing they don’t have have super slow mo or a camera above the goal line haha.

Regardless, it’s nice to see Lohrei dominate. With Beecher struggling and not much else in the way of high end talent, Lohrei (and Schmaltz) have been bright spots.
 

Ferm Sheller

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Right. No way they have an overhead cam. It also could have been a case of the refs saying, "close enough -- let's go eat dinner."
 

Salem's Lot

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It’s the USHL. Guessing they don’t have have super slow mo or a camera above the goal line haha.

Regardless, it’s nice to see Lohrei dominate. With Beecher struggling and not much else in the way of high end talent, Lohrei (and Schmaltz) have been bright spots.
It’s nice to see Lohrei dominating that league, but honestly he should be. He’s 6’ 4” and turning 20 in 2 weeks. He might be the oldest drafted guy in the USHL. If he plays like this at Ohio State next year then we might really have something.
 
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cshea

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It is funny how draft position impacts our perception. They took him 60th overall this year as an overager so we qualify everything with his age. If they had taken him as a flier in the 7th round in 2019, we’d be ecstatic and wondering why he was still available late and I doubt we’d be qualifying all comments with a note about his age. He is the same age, but it’s be a completely different perception of the player.
 

Salem's Lot

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It is funny how draft position impacts our perception. They took him 60th overall this year as an overager so we qualify everything with his age. If they had taken him as a flier in the 7th round in 2019, we’d be ecstatic and wondering why he was still available late and I doubt we’d be qualifying all comments with a note about his age. He is the same age, but it’s be a completely different perception of the player.
Draft position always impacts our perception, fair or not. But that’s not why I made that comment. A 20 year old in the USHL that was good enough to get drafted should be dominant in that league. Especially a 6’ 4” 20 year old.

And I have no issues with drafting overage players. I was advocating for taking Tanner Pearson in 2012. He could’ve stepped right into a role for the 2013 team.

Of course I’m rooting for the guy to become a really NHL good defenseman for the Bruins, all that I’m saying is that I can’t get too excited about 19 year old dominating the USHL. And it doesn’t matter if he was drafted at 18 or 19. I’ll get excited when he’s doing well against age appropriate competition.
 

cshea

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Beecher is back in action following a stint at the US WJC camp and then a bout with Covid. He scored in both of Michigan’s games this weekend, 3-1=4 in 10 games this season. Would be nice to see a jump in production from him.

Lohrei is continuing to dominate. 2g and 1a this weekend, 9-15=24 in 16 games.
 

cshea

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Beecher’s mini run continues. He had 1g 1a in 2 games this week. 3-1=4 in 4 games since returning to Michigan.
 

cshea

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According to Divver, Curtis Hall signed his ELC with Boston.

View: https://twitter.com/MarkDivver/status/1354095899417444353?s=20


Hall is a somewhat interesting prospect. He likely would've played at Yale this season and then signed but Yale is not playing hockey during the pandemic. In 2-years at Yale he had 22 goals and 16 assists in 52 games. I don't think he's a blue chipper by any stretch, but maybe someone who could be a useful bottom 6 guy in a year or two.

In addition, Providence's training camp opened today. Swayman and Vladar were both on the ice, and Callum Booth was recalled by Boston to be the taxi squad goalie.
 

burstnbloom

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Hall is an interesting guy that I think I have irrational optimism about. He's big, fast, skates well and has a good shot. PPG last year in college and made the WJC team last year. He's not going to be a start but my limited impression makes me think he might be more than the industry thinks of him. We'll see I guess.
 

cshea

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Providence beat Hartford 3-0 in an exhibition yesterday, Their season starts for real on Friday.

Zech, Ahcan and Wolff scored for the Baby B's and Swayman recorded a 29 save shutout in his pro debut.

Carey - Hughes - Lantosi
Filipe - Steen - Hall
Lauko - Koppanen - Senyshyn
Asselin - Shen - Voyer

Zech - Peski
Ahcan - Messner
Wolff - Lyle

Swayman/Vladar

I think the important guys here are Ahcan, Lauko, Hall, Steen and the goalies. Zech is also intriguing but not signed by Boston. Additionaly, with Hall, he signed an AHL deal with Providence, not his ELC with Boston. Essentially what it means is he's on a 4-year ELC with Boston. He probably signs his ELC after this season in the AHL
 

cshea

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Providence season is underway. AHL.tv is free for this weekend if anyone wants to watch some afternoon hockey. Looks like you do have to sign up though.
 

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Good start for the Baby B's - a 4-1 win with Lauko #1 star and Swayman #3. They're definitely two guys to watch this year along with Vladar but I'm not sure there's much more beyond them (Ahcan and Hall I suppose; Vaak of course when he's playing)
 

cshea

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Providence is playing another afternoon game today, puck drops at 1. Studnicka has joined. Notably playing RW. Also, Curtis Hall got injured and is week-to-week. Divver tweeted the Baby B's lineup as:

Carey - Hughes - Lantosi
Lauko - Steen - Studnicka
Asselin - Koppanen - Senyshyn
Filipe - Shen - Voyer

Vaakanainen - Zech
Ahcan - Lyle
Wolff - Messner

Vladar
Swayman
 

FelixMantilla

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https://rinksiderhodeisland.com/2021/02/28/good-bad-ugly-from-providence-bruins-week-24/
Zach Senyshyn continued his strong play. He made a nice play to set up a goal by Brady Lyle against Bridgeport, then scored a goal and added an assist against Hartford. This is his best stretch of games in his four seasons with the P-Bruins. He is leading the team in goals with four and is second in points with seven. Senyshyn is putting himself in good position for a callup if Boston needs a winger.
 

cshea

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Providence beat Bridgeport yesterday 4-1. They are 7-2-0 to start the season. Should note that they are only playing Bridgeport (NYI) and Hartford (NYR) this season. They get a few with Utica at some point, but it's basically all Bridgeport and Hartford. Not sure how that plays into evaluation, but worth noting.

Lauko: 8 games, 2-5=7
Asselin 9 games 4-4=8
Senyshyn: 9 games 4-3=7
Steen: 9 games 3-4=7
Hughes: 9 games 2-4=6
Ahcan: 9 ganes 1-5=6
Zech 9 games 1-3=4
Vladar .934 4 games
Swayman .935 5 games

The goalies both appear to be tremendous. If the situation arises where the Bruins have some games at the end of the year that are meaningless standings wise, I'd like to see Vladar get some NHL starts to assess his readiness. He'll be at about 65 AHL games in his career by then, and his development impacts the contract situations of both Rask and Halak. This is Swayman's first pro season so he'll need more time anyways.

Up front, Lauko is off to a nice start offensively. Also got into a fight yesterday. Still very young at 20 years old. Asselin is forward version of Cooper Zech. He's on an AHL deal, he's not Boston's property. He had a big final season in the QMJHL 2 years ago. 86 points in 68 games. he signed with Providence and spent most of last year on a loan to Atlanta in the ECHL where he was a point per game guy, 52 points in 53 games. So far in his AHL career he's been close to point per game, 11 points in 14 games. If he keeps producing, I'd imagine he'd be in the conversation for a contract.
 

jk333

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I’ve been impressed by Swayman’s stats from Maine and also seeing him in person at college a couple years ago.

Is be a legit #1 prospect? If so, backup next year and be the guy in 22’-23’ type timeline?
 

cshea

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I’ve been impressed by Swayman’s stats from Maine and also seeing him in person at college a couple years ago.

Is be a legit #1 prospect? If so, backup next year and be the guy in 22’-23’ type timeline?
He's probably not an NHL consideration for another 2-3 years.

This is only his first pro season. Due to the condensed schedule, he's probably only going to get 10-15 starts. That is a super tiny sample. For comparison, Rask spent 2 full seasons in the AHL before breaking in as Thomas' backup, and Rask was helped along by Thomas getting hurt. Additionally, Swayman is 4th on the depth chart. Vladar is ahead of him. Vladar is more experienced and is playing just as well (.936 over his last 30 AHL games dating back to last season).

Rask and Halak are UFA's after this season. I would expect at least 1 of them back. If the Bruins do give the backup job to a kid (and i'm not sure they will- I think it could be the Rask/Halak show for another year or two), it's going to be Vladar first. That would let Swayman get the bulk of the work in Providence again next season. I thin it's probably 2-3 years minimum before Swayman is an NHL regular if all goes well.
 

burstnbloom

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Definitely showed a lot of guts but I’d prefer Lauko be a bit smarter. Geertsen is a plug who will never make the show and is an experienced fighter.
 

Dummy Hoy

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Guy was bullying him and the went after a teammate- I like him showing he’ll stand up for himself. But yeah, not a good idea to tangle with guys so far out of your weight class.
 

veritas

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Agree with Dummy Hoy, love to see the fire from Lauko, but also yikes that a 20 year old has to deal with that. The AHL still has a lot of garbage players who are just there to be goons, and it's a real risk to send kids to play there.
 

cshea

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They're having something of a Development Camp next week. Roster below, all North American players. Covid restrictions keeping the European based players away. So unfortunately no Fabian Lysell.

F: Johnny Beecher, Riley Duran, Parker Ford*, Andre Gasseau, Tyler Gratton*, Curtis Hall, Brett Harrison, Matthew Kopperud*, Trevor Kuntar, Reed Lebster*, Marc McLaughlin*, Benjamin Myers*, Quinn Olson, Jake Schmaltz, Alex-Olivier Voyer

D: Ty Gallagher, JD Greenway*, Mason Langenbrunner, Mason Lohrei, Brady Lyle, Anton Malmstrom*, Ryan Mast, Dustyn McFaul, Travis Mitchell*, Brandon Scanlin*

G: Kyle Keyser, Zachary Stejskal*, Keith Petruzzelli*

*= camp invite

Obviously a lot of invites with no Euro's coming to town. 2021 draft picks are Brett Harrison, Andre Gasseau, Ty Gallagher are coming. The entire 2020 class (Lohrei, Kuntar, Langenbrunner, Duran) also are getting their first experience with the organization. Greenway is noted as an invite but was apparently acquired in a trade with Toronto last week. They have until 8/15 to decide if they want to sign him. Beecher, Lohrei and Harrison are probably the highest ranked prospects attending.

View: https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1421229171846623232?s=20
 

jsinger121

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They're having something of a Development Camp next week. Roster below, all North American players. Covid restrictions keeping the European based players away. So unfortunately no Fabian Lysell.

F: Johnny Beecher, Riley Duran, Parker Ford*, Andre Gasseau, Tyler Gratton*, Curtis Hall, Brett Harrison, Matthew Kopperud*, Trevor Kuntar, Reed Lebster*, Marc McLaughlin*, Benjamin Myers*, Quinn Olson, Jake Schmaltz, Alex-Olivier Voyer

D: Ty Gallagher, JD Greenway*, Mason Langenbrunner, Mason Lohrei, Brady Lyle, Anton Malmstrom*, Ryan Mast, Dustyn McFaul, Travis Mitchell*, Brandon Scanlin*

G: Kyle Keyser, Zachary Stejskal*, Keith Petruzzelli*

*= camp invite

Obviously a lot of invites with no Euro's coming to town. 2021 draft picks are Brett Harrison, Andre Gasseau, Ty Gallagher are coming. The entire 2020 class (Lohrei, Kuntar, Langenbrunner, Duran) also are getting their first experience with the organization. Greenway is noted as an invite but was apparently acquired in a trade with Toronto last week. They have until 8/15 to decide if they want to sign him. Beecher, Lohrei and Harrison are probably the highest ranked prospects attending.

View: https://twitter.com/NHLBruins/status/1421229171846623232?s=20
Keith Petruzzelli is a nice get as a camp invite. 3rd round pick of the Red Wings who isn’t signing.Was very good the past 2 seasons at Quinnipiac. I have to think he’s going to be a possible free agent signing. He’s also from Massachusetts.
 

burstnbloom

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Extremely excited to see Lohrei in this setting. His numbers in the ushl were hilarious and he’s only been a d for a short time. This will be a good measuring stick for us to see how good he really is against experienced players. Guys like Beecher and hall will be a good challenge for him since they are productive d1 players. Love development camp.
 

LogansDad

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Extremely excited to see Lohrei in this setting. His numbers in the ushl were hilarious and he’s only been a d for a short time. This will be a good measuring stick for us to see how good he really is against experienced players. Guys like Beecher and hall will be a good challenge for him since they are productive d1 players. Love development camp.
Really nice article in The Athletic on him today.

It is a pity, then, that Lohrei is 20 and yet to play his first college game.

“Mason hasn’t done a lot of shaving in his life,” said Pat Mikesch, Lohrei’s coach at Green Bay of the USHL. “He’s still growing up a lot with his body. So there’s still going to be a lot of growth.”

The Bruins required immediate left-side assistance. It’s why they invested $6 million annually in Mike Reilly and Derek Forbort.

Lohrei, meanwhile, is developing into a mix of the mobile Reilly and the stay-at-home Forbort. The incoming Ohio State freshman led the Gamblers with 19 goals and 40 assists in 48 games in 2020-21. Lohrei was the USHL Defenseman of the Year.

His stay with the Buckeyes may not last long. It is a nice timeline for the Bruins’ 2020 second-round selection. Lohrei is arguably the organization’s brightest amateur prospect.

“I knew he was going to be good. I didn’t know he was going to become special,” Mikesch said. “That’s what he’s kind of become now. He’s just a different defenseman than you get to see very often these days with his size, skating and offensive instincts.”
 

burstnbloom

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Really nice article in The Athletic on him today.
Thanks for sharing. This is a really exciting year for Lohrei. He was astonishingly good in the USHL this year but played in his draft +2 year (he was not drafted his first year). He dominated so much that its hard not to notice the performance. I don't really think its just overager performance though because he's only been playing D for 4 years. I could legitmately see him having a K'Andre Miller type impact at OSU (K"Andre did it a year younger). If he does that, I bet he plays in Providence to end the season. A 6'5 puck mover who can skate? A boy can dream....