Bruins sign promising defenseman to two-year extension

Lohrei, 24, lands a bridge deal coming off his first full NHL season. The 2020 second-round pick has shown promise as a puck-mover and a potential top-four option on Boston’s left side to complement Hampus Lindholm, but he’s not fully there yet.

A knee injury that ended Lindholm’s season in November meant Boston had to play Lohrei in more minutes than they would have liked. He was always meant as a longer-term project with some raw defensive details in his game, and that was extremely apparent in 2024-25. Averaging over 19 minutes per game, Lohrei actually led Boston defensemen in scoring with 33 points (5 G, 28 A) in 77 appearances but earned the distinction of having the worst plus-minus mark in the league this year, checking in at a gnarly -43 mark. While that figure is a bit exaggerated due to poor goaltending, he still only managed a 47.5 xGF% at 5-on-5 according to Natural Stat Trick – a pedestrian figure, even compared to his Bruins teammates.

Lohrei wasn’t Calder-eligible because he split 2023-24 somewhat evenly between Boston and AHL Providence. He put up a 4-9–13 scoring line with a minus-two rating in 41 games in his first taste of NHL action last year, averaging a hair under 17 minutes per night.

He’s shown the ability to be more of a two-way threat at the collegiate and AHL levels, and the Bruins are banking on him discovering how to translate that to the NHL in what they hope can be more sheltered minutes next season. That’s where virtually all of his upside lies – despite boasting a 6’5″, 220-lb frame, he’s not a particularly physical defender. He only logged 25 hits this year. If he can’t become a well-rounded enough player to convert into a top-four fixture, they’re not taking much of a risk today by only making a short-term commitment with a reasonable qualifying offer upon expiry in 2027.

The extension takes Lohrei up to his last summer of team control. A one-year extension on the end would walk him right to unrestricted free agency in 2028. As for Boston’s cap situation, they still have over $23MM left to spend, but still have another notable RFA to sign in breakout forward Morgan Geekie. They also have only 27 standard contracts signed throughout the active roster and non-roster lists for 2025-26.