The Boston Bruins have recalled rookie defenseman Mason Lohrei and veteran defenseman Jakub Zboril. To make room for them on the roster, the Bruins returned forwards Jesper Boqvist and Patrick Brown on loan to the Providence Bruins.
With those moves, the Boston Bruins went from six to eight defensemen on their roster but went down from 13 to 11 forwards. That sparked some chatter that the Bruins may be about to trade a defenseman before they host the Detroit Red Wings at 7:05 p.m. ET at TD Garden. However, New England Hockey Journal and NHL.com reporter Mark Divver, who was the first to tweet on the transactions, calmed the masses with a follow-up tweet:
There had been some chatter over the last 48 hours that the Boston Bruins were about to recall Mason Lohrei from Providence. Most of it originated from a tweet by ESPN NHL studio host and play-by-play announcer John Buccigross on Wednesday afternoon, indicating that Lohrei was about to be recalled.
As of 6:30 p.m. on Friday night, though, the recalls, for now, only seemed to be, as Divver said, paper transactions. However, that doesn’t rule out the chance that Buccigross was right and that Lohrei will be on the Bruins’ roster tomorrow. The 22-year-old rookie defenseman turned a lot of heads in training camp and the preseason and had Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney working the trade market so that he could unload salary cap space and fit Lohrei onto the opening night roster.
“He’s working the phones and has been all weekend, I can tell you that,” an NHL source told Boston Hockey Now just over two hours before NHL teams had to submit their rosters at 5 p.m. on Oct. 9.. “Lohrei earned a spot. Donny and Cam [Neely] know that, and they want him to have it.”
Lohrei, whom the Bruins drafted out of Ohio State with the 58th overall (second round) pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, wound up being returned to the Providence Bruins, but there’s been a feeling that the Bruins definitely planned to recall him if and when they can. Lohrei has two assists and is a plus 3 in five games for the Providence Bruins this season.
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