Defenseman Mason Lohrei has taken a huge step on his path from the prospect pipeline to the Boston Bruins and the NHL.

Boston officially announced Wednesday morning that they’ve signed Lohrei to a two-year entry-level contract with an annual cap hit of $925,000. This means that he is officially at the pro level and at the very least will play for Providence next season.

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• Lohrei, 22, was originally selected 58th overall by the Bruins in the 2020 NHL Draft. The B’s lacked a first-round pick that year, because they traded it to the Anaheim Ducks in order to unload David Backes’ contract and acquire forward Ondrej Kase. So, Lohrei was the Bruins’ top draft pick of 2020.

  So far, so good for the 6-foot-4, 210-pound blue liner. Lohrei led all Ohio State defensemen in points with 32 in 40 games as a sophomore in the 2022-23 season, and also led the team to a quarterfinal appearance in the NCAA tournament.

  Lohrei signed an Amateur Tryout Agreement (ATO) with the Providence Bruins in March. He played five games, logging one assist and five shots on goal, and also played three Calder Cup playoff games with four shots.

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  Oct 7, 2022; Columbus, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes defenseman Mason Lohrei (6) brings the puck up ice during the NCAA men’s hockey game against the Wisconsin Badgers at the Schottenstein Center. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch
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• Lohrei joins a growing list of young prospects with hopes of eventually making a real impact at the NHL level. That includes forwards Fabian Lysell, Georgii Merkulov, John Beecher, Matthew Poitras, and Trevor Kuntar.

  We’ll see how many of these prospects even play in the NHL in the 2023-24 season, but there’s optimism that this will be a strong new wave of talent coming in over the course of long-term extensions for stars David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy.

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  Feb 18, 2023; Cleveland, Ohio, USA; Ohio State Buckeyes defenseman Mason Lohrei (6) moves the puck around Michigan Wolverines forward Mark Estapa (94) during the Faceoff on the Lake outdoor NCAA men’s hockey game at FirstEnergy Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Adam Cairns-The Columbus Dispatch

• The Bruins still have Hampus Lindholm, Matt Grzelcyk, Derek Forbort, Jakub Zboril, and Mike Reilly under contract for 2023-24 on the left side of their defense. So unless Lohrei is undeniably a better option than almost all of them in his first full season as a pro- or Don Sweeney makes significant moves to clear out the depth chart – It’ll be tough to see Lohrei playing in Boston out of camp in the fall.

  But that could change, based on whatever the Bruins do to change their roster – particularly, how they manage an extremely tenuous cap situation. Sweeney did hint at “instituting younger players” and “roster changes” in his end-of-season media availability on Tuesday.

  It was certainly a wildly disappointing end to the Bruins’ season, but there’s reason for optimism that Lohrei will become an impact left-shot defenseman for them in the coming years.

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  Matt Dolloff is a writer and podcaster for 985TheSportsHub.com. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Have a news tip, question, or comment for Matt? Yell at him on Twitter @mattdolloff and follow him on Instagram @realmattdolloff. Check out all of Matt’s content here.

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