On the Rise: Mason Lohrei
Pressing the action in Beantown
With Hampus Lindholm assuming shutdown responsibilities and free agent Nikita Zadorov on board, climbing the left side of Boston’s blue line won’t be easy.
Mason Lohrei will push the team’s LD cohort all the same. Regardless of his ability to win a top-pairing slot alongside Charlie McAvoy (they played a chunk of minutes together in both the regular season and playoffs), the 23-year-old seems destined to earn a more prominent role in 2024-25.
Here’s why.
Activation
Boston’s D-corps has been difficult to play against for ages now. Lohrei won’t break that trend. However, unlike most of the club’s defensemen, he gives opponents fits via his playmaking rather than play-breaking. While the rearguard can protect the house when necessary, his game is predicated on rolling downhill and attacking the opposition.
The 2020 second-round pick displays ample confidence in spite of modest pro experience (26 AHL games, 41 NHL games). He doesn’t just want the puck on his stick. There are already times when he outright commands it.
As he charts his course up the ice, he showcases natural passing instincts and poise beyond his years. Part of that is due to the size advantage the 6’5”, 211-pounder enjoys over the competition. If he can play keepaway vs. 99% of NHL skaters, why would he ever hurry his decisions? He scans, sorts and slices NZ postures as though he’s out for a midday stroll (BOS 6):
Let’s rewind for a second. Before his puck skills kick in, Lohrei offers the Bruins top-notch creeping. Following the initial link-up to a forward, the rookie will slide into a weak-side corridor to present the next target in Boston’s buildup. From there, forget about hot potato or instant dump-ins. He’s looking to create off the side switch. He’s patient enough to freeze defenders in the middle of the ice and kick the puck out wide for clean entries. He’s never shy about ripping shots on the rush either.
Since he carries such a towering build, tracking him down can feel like an uphill battle. Even if you find yourself hip to hip, he can still hold the biscuit or receive passes far beyond your grasp.
There’s a Brent Burns quality to his capers. Forwards aren’t quite sure how to contain this freight train once it leaves the station.
Lohrei made sure to save his finest hockey of the season for the playoffs too (4 points in 11 games). His flurries in transition were especially strong vs. Toronto in Round 1, as he routinely barreled past unsuspecting Leafs forwards:
This sequence begins with a mismatch on retrieval. Lohrei knows F1 Mitch Marner (TOR 16, a 6’0”, 180-pound winger who plays smaller than his size) has little hope of halting his progress, so he can afford to wait for F2 (Max Domi, TOR 11) to reveal his hand. Domi brakes at the wall to deter a rim, which means Charlie Coyle (BOS 13) is available in the heart of the DZ. Boston’s off to the races.
That includes #6, who hops on his horse and beats Domi down the ice to supplement the Bruins’ rush. The Leafs forward clocks the big defender and accelerates to make up ground, but it’s too late. Lohrei’s off-puck aggressiveness and range result in a wrister from prime real estate.
Over Boston’s 11-game playoff run, the first-year blueliner spearheaded the rush at the team’s highest rate on the back end (the donuts for half of these D-men speak to Lohrei’s unique position on the squad):
His bold attitude and physical attributes also trouble opponents in more measured OZ scenarios. Sure, his wheels are ordinary at best. Coupled with that ridiculous wingspan, though, he can cover so much distance that he almost never exhausts his options.
Lohrei’s keen sense of leverage enables him to detect escape routes and extend the action under pressure. His reach and shiftiness can exploit pursuit angles that are off by an inch. When he has breathing room at the point, he favors sneaky wristers and slap passes to the back post. His offense is fluid. Unpredictable. As he amasses game time, he'll develop a better read on when to flood the good ice as well.
We caught a glimpse of that potential in Game 1 of the Bruins’ second-round series vs. the Panthers:
After pinching to suffocate Florida’s wall exit, he notices Pavel Zacha’s (BOS 18) high support. He has the numbers to activate as a forward. Brandon Montour (FLA 62) is sluggish in recognizing Boston’s new shape, allowing Lohrei to whistle an uncontested laser past Sergei Bobrovsky.
Stretch passes, NZ stampedes, 1-on-1 elusiveness, deceptive point shots. His offensive arsenal is impressive, and in each of these modes, he’s able to slow the game down. To dictate its tempo.
Most importantly, his ambition brings a different flavor to a Boston offense that was short on answers in the spring (12th in GF/PG). When teams devote their resources to containing David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Elias Lindholm and even McAvoy, a bolder and more empowered Lohrei can deliver the haymaker they didn’t anticipate.
Defense
Truth be told, Lohrei’s defense remains a bit rough around the edges. Lapses in concentration and urgency were more common than the Bruins would have preferred in 2023-24.
With that said, his upside is obvious. He’s 6’5” and 211 pounds on every shift, and he’s a…serviceable skater for his size (a hair below average in top speed). Consequently, he has the potential to become quite a disruptive figure. Just as his extraordinary length buys him time on offense, it erases it on defense, forcing puck-carriers into hasty choices:
Consistency is the main hurdle standing between him and a legit top-4 claim. Otherwise, the ingredients are there for stingy gap control, pesky stick work and a shot-blocking presence that can blot out the sun.
His build also enables him to cover for the occasional mistake or team breakdown. Watch him clean up a dicey shift vs. the Leafs:
Following McAvoy’s (BOS 73) misread of a high flip, Lohrei is there to crush Toronto’s odd-man hopes. First, he knocks the puck off John Tavares (TOR 91) on entry only for his partner to kick it back to the Leafs. Then he challenges Marner’s pickup but fails to derail the play. However, he boasts the range to fill Tavares’ shooting lane at the 11th hour before gloving the puck to himself and hitting Pastrnak (BOS 88) on the counter.
He goes from extinguishing McAvoy’s fire as the last man back to joining the Bruins’ transition. His zone of influence is enormous.
Here’s another example of his bead on the puck:
Lohrei jumps Kevin Stenlund’s (FLA 82) backhand pass to Carter Verhaeghe (FLA 23) in the NZ and jars the puck loose. The winger reacts quickly, slamming on the brakes to carve out some separation and connect with the Panthers’ next wave (Niko Mikkola, FLA 77). Temporarily stalling Florida’s transition is one thing. Lohrei is able to stifle both attempts and recover the puck himself.
He really has no business coming away with it, but that’s what skyscrapers can do for you.
The 23-year-old does indeed rely heavily on his raw tools at the moment. With experience and guidance, he could develop the savvy to tighten his NZ gaps and DZ coverage. The former should be the priority. There are several superior defenders in the organization. It’s Lohrei’s two-way promise—specifically converting defense into offense—that will win over the coaching staff.
Nipping the opposition’s attacks in the bud will encourage his own to blossom.
Head coach Jim Montgomery may choose to start Lohrei on the third pairing. That’s OK. He can excel in softer minutes and offer the club 20+ points in the process.
But there are rosier possibilities, and they could unfold as early as this season. In the event that Zadorov doesn’t mesh with McAvoy, Lohrei was solid in that slot one year ago. Reuniting them would mean plenty of minutes alongside the team’s biggest weapons. His offensive spark could lead to PP1 usage too.
Given the rarity of his skill set—in Boston and leaguewide—there’s more opportunity for Lohrei than meets the eye.