BOSTON — Brad Marchand put a nasty move on 19-year-old Matthew Poitras in a 2-on-2 drill in practice on Monday, leaving the Bruins’ rookie to pick himself up off the ice.
“A little ‘welcome to the league’ moment out there,” Marchand said with a chuckle. “But, you know, he gives it to guys every day, too. So it’s fun to see out there.”
Marchand followed up his ankle-breaker by skating over to Poitras for a little stick tap on the shinguard — the new, mature version of the “Little Ball of Hate” that was promised when he ascended to the captaincy this summer. Afterward, there was more encouragement for Poitras, who led the team with three goals this preseason and played himself onto the Bruins’ roster.
“I really like him. He’s a really good kid,” Marchand said. “He’s just seems like he’s never under pressure. The game doesn’t move too fast for him. … He has all the attributes to be a great player in this league, and we’ll see how it plays out.”
Poitras is one of two rookies expected to make the opening night roster, joining forward Johnny Beecher, a 2019 first-round draft choice who played three seasons in college at Michigan. Mason Lohrei, a defenseman who played at Ohio State and was a second-round pick in 2020, was sent down to Providence on Monday but is expected to be back.
“It’s exciting,” said defenseman Charlie McAvoy, who played himself onto the Bruins’ playoff roster in 2016, two weeks after Boston University was knocked out of the NCAA tournament.
“I just remember little stuff like your first point, your first goal,” he said. “Little stuff like that. It’s something that you play this game for, right? It’s cool, it’s fun. … They played outstanding in camp and I’m looking to embrace the opportunity to help them grow.”
The Bruins set NHL records with 65 wins and 135 points to win the Presidents Trophy last season before losing in the first round loss of the playoffs. Over the summer, captain Patrice Bergeron and fellow forward David Krejci retired, opening up some spots on the roster for newcomers.
“You never know the timelines. You just try and support the development process,” General Manager Don Sweeney said. “And when kids are ready — players are ready — give them the opportunity and hope that they take advantage of it. That’s on them.”
An Ontario, Canada, native who still has a Guelph Storm toiletries kit in his TD Garden locker, Poitras hasn’t yet figured out where he is going to live in Boston or learned how to cook anything that doesn’t come with instructions on the box. The Bruins open the season Wednesday night against the Chicago Blackhawks, and for now his focus is sticking around.
“For me, I think it’s just telling myself: ‘I belong here, and I believe that I can play at this level,'” he said. “So I’m just going to be confident. I’ll play my game. I’m not going to go out of character and do a lot of things that haven’t helped me get here.”
Poitras is one of a few 2022 draft picks who could make the leap to the NHL already, including Arizona’s Logan Cooley and Toronto’s Fraser Minten. Poitras, who was selected No. 54 overall, is the latest pick in that draft to make it already.
But he won’t be the youngest player on the ice on Wednesday night.
Chicago’s No. 1 overall pick Connor Bedard is only 18.
JAKE DEBRUSK enters the 2023-24 NHL season coming off one of his best offensive seasons. The top-six forward had 27 goals and 23 assists – numbers that surely would have been higher had he not missed a month after getting injured in the Winter Classic.
DeBrusk is also entering the final year of his two-year extension that he signed at the 2021-22 trade deadline. He requested a trade in Nov. 2021 but rescinded it shortly after the Bruins fired Bruce Cassidy as their coach.
At media day last year, DeBrusk wouldn’t confirm or deny Cassidy’s departure led to him walking back his request, but said it was an easy decision after talking with some of his teammates. DeBrusk became a reliable top-six forward, often skating on the top line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. He scored two goals at the Winter Classic at Fenway Park despite breaking his leg and injuring his hand in the game.
Now he’s hopeful to remain in Boston and avoid free agency.
Maybe Coach Jim Montgomery was the difference maker. Maybe it was playing more of his style. Whatever it was, Montgomery has seen a lot of maturity on and off the ice since he arrived in Boston.
“When I think of Jake, what I learned about him, is there’s three things that make him so valuable to our team,” Montgomery said Monday. “One is his swagger. He has this quiet confidence that comes off and, I only heard it a few times, but I think the players hear it a lot. He brings humor at the appropriate times that lets everybody know everything’s gonna be OK. He has a quiet confident swagger that really helps our group.”
Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney sees the drive in DeBrusk and believes last year was a feather in his cap.
“Jake has matured both on and off the ice. And gone through some ups and downs associated with that. Last year, coming back from two separate injuries was important for our hockey club and important for Jake because sometimes you had seen him dip when he came back in those situations and he really didn’t,” Sweeney said. “So I think the drive is there. I think the confidence in his game as a two-way player being incorporated – playing more on the penalty kill – it was a real feather in Jake’s cap and the coach’s cap to see it. He’s got a great hockey sense. He has the tools to be an impactful player and it’s always been about consistency with Jake. We all see it. You just expect to see it on an absolute nightly basis and he’s getting closer.”
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