Mason Lohrei’s inaugural season for the Bruins was a learning process that blossomed into a wonderful playoffs.
Mason Lohrei’s Community Grade: 7.6
Games Played: 41
Playoff Games Played: 11
Regular Season Point totals: 4 Goals, 9 Assists, 13 Points
Playoff Point totals: 1 Goal, 3 Assists, 4 Points
PIM: 18
TOI per Game: 16:57
Regular Season On-Ice Statistics
5v5 Shot Attempts (Corsi) For-%: 45.72%
5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempts (Fenwick) For-%: 45.45%
5v5 Expected Goals For-%: 46.81%
Playoff On-Ice Statistics
5v5 Shot Attempts (Corsi) For-%: 48.15%
5v5 Unblocked Shot Attempts (Fenwick) For-%: 50.00%
5v5 Expected Goals For-%: 53.88%
Well, I’ll just say it: If you were giving this out as a full season (plus playoffs) thing...then I completely agree with you; He beat my expectations by a country mile and he earned his almost 8 with aplomb.
...With the minor caveat that his regular season on it’s own gave me the impression that he was going to be earning a 4 at best.
Look, I know it’s been a minute or two since Lohrei came into the team and his postseason success may have tinted some glasses a lovely rosey shade, but I should make it clear; Lohrei’s regular season was not nearly as promising as Cam Neely said it was at locker room breakdown day, at least from the jump.
While a good shooter and decent NHL skater, Lohrei when he started seemed to be wildly overconfident with the puck; turning it over with alarming regularity, losing sight of the puck in net-front battles, losing battles in the corners and boards frequently, and unintentionally screening his goaltender.
He would be able to put together better nights, where his game clicked into place and he was able to show that his aggressiveness on defense was an asset; able to create space and primo scoring opportunities, which ended up with him tied for points with Kevin Shattenkirk, and 4th in goals at 5v5 among defenders on the team, and had plenty of good nights where he made a difference with smart, heads up plays.
...but then that would fade, he would turn back into the guy who had a front row seat to Kyle Palmieri starting and finishing a hat trick. Or completely lost Jeff Carter in a scrum and allowed him to score effectively unmolested. Or, according to the very inconsistent Giveaway stat as recorded by NaturalStatTrick, was effectively Matt Grzelcyk but tall and arguably worse; having the same amount of giveaways at all strengths (29), and having more than Grzelcyk at even strength (Gryz had 27). In the on-ice impact analytics, he wasn’t much better; only coming out very slightly ahead of the embattled defender.
Grzelcyk vs. Lohrei On-Ice Impact at 5v5
| Regular Season On-Ice Impact | Matt Grzelcyk | Mason Lohrei |
|---|---|---|
| Regular Season On-Ice Impact | Matt Grzelcyk | Mason Lohrei |
| CF% at 5v5 | 45.03 | 45.72 |
| FF% at 5v5 | 45.11 | 45.45 |
| xGF% at 5v5 | 47.44 | 46.81 |
Let’s call this a “needs improvement” kind of assessment, at least for the regular season. All Data courtesy of NaturalStatTrick.com
It all sort of came together to show a player that definitely had promise...but was very, very green in a way that made it feel like he was maybe in over his head a bit in certain assignments.
The reason I bring ALL of that up however...is to make it clear that what happened next completely shifted Mason Lohrei’s narrative in a dramatic way.
One that completely changed how people saw him, his game, and his trajectory as an NHLer. What happened?
The playoffs started.
Mason Lohrei, seemingly knowing that this was the biggest stage of them all, seemed to shake off all the rookie jitters all at once; the floating in space, the absolutely inane passing decisions...all of it, and seemingly became a different person overnight; one that knew his assignments, one that picked his spots a helluva lot better than previous, and one that served the Boston Bruins well through the first round and into the second, where he was largely unmarked by Florida’s defense and rapidly climbed to being one of the most impactful players on the Bruins roster, forget d-corps, during the entire playoffs.
It was, as I think I said multiple times in the comments, like a different player replaced him altogether.
He finally got it together at the best possible time for him to do so; when just about half of the defense corps began to feel the heat! It gave the impression he was finally ready to take the next step come training camp, and that the regular season had been just the usual teething troubles first year rookies usually go through.
But it was a surprise; because of just how jittery his regular season jitters turned out to be, and while I know he’s learned a lot from his first real NHL experience...I really kind of hope that we don’t see the “2023-24 Regular Season” Mason Lohrei ever again. He’s shown too much promise to go back to that.
This upcoming year, Lohrei will almost certainly have more time to establish himself as a Boston Bruin. His space in the lineup is almost guaranteed unless Parker Wotherspoon absolutely blasts him out of the water in training camp and preseason; the team likes him, Monty likes him, and fans are certainly high on him after a playoff performance to remember.
It’s up to him to earn that spot and then keep it, because if rookie jitters are one thing, a sophomore slump on a team like Boston’s, who’s gonna need to fight for every goal they can get, would be agonizing; he needs to bring his playoff form to every game this year.
As positive as his first half-season was by the end, it needs to be the foundation off of which an even better player emerges this October.
Personally, I think he can do it.
