The Boston Bruins’ best option at the moment to assist rookie center Matt Poitras in getting back on track is to send him to the IIHF World Junior Championship in 2024.
In order to assist Poitras mature and become used to the physical and mental demands of the NHL, the Bruins continued to implement a load management plan on Friday night, which resulted in the 19-year-old rookie pivot missing another game.
Coach Jim Montgomery described Poitras’ absence as “as planned.” “With the load management maintenance plan we’ve set up for him.”The Boston Bruins have not excluded out sending Poitras to what is perhaps one of the most thrilling sporting events of the year, which takes place in Gothenburg, Sweden, from December 26 to January 5.
Jim Montgomery, the head coach of the Boston Bruins, said, “We’re not making a decision on that right now,” in response to a question about Poitras’ potential departure to join his Canadian hockey teammates abroad. “No choice.”
Montgomery successfully answered the question during his pre-game media availability before the Boston Bruins’ 5-4 shootout victory over the New York Islanders on Friday night. Had the question been posed directly a month ago, Montgomery—as well as general manager Don Sweeney of the team—would have probably responded with a firm “No” before going on to the next one. On Saturday night, when the Boston Bruins host the New York Rangers at TD Garden, Poitras will be back in the starting lineup. But is this the last game he plays for the Bruins until after the New Year?
Last Wednesday, Hockey Canada revealed its World Juniors team. The next day, they departed for Sweden. There is “serious buzz” that Team Maple Leaf may add Matt Poitras to a lineup that already includes four players who have received NHL experience this season, according to two sources who are already in Gothenburg. It is anticipated that the Bruins will respond to Hockey Canada by tomorrow. Should the 19-year-old Whitby, Ontario, resident receive the go-ahead, Poitras may depart for Sweden by Monday.
The Bruins have previously permitted a top prospect with NHL experience to participate in the esteemed competition that has served as a springboard for numerous NHL stars. In five games during the 2015 tournament in Toronto and Montreal, David Pastrnak scored seven points. Pastrnak joined the NHL full-time a month later and hasn’t looked back. Top prospect Fabian Lysell was also permitted by the Bruins to travel to Halifax and Moncton for the 2023 tournament only last season, but Lysell’s experience was less than ideal as he finished with no points in seven games and is still yet to find success in the NHL.
Longtime NHL analyst and my co-host on “The Eye Test Podcast,” Pierre McGuire, noted on Friday that players in Poitras’ circumstances typically don’t have experiences similar to Lysell’s. For Poitras, a trip to Sweden and the opportunity to perform brilliantly in a high-stakes competition on a platform as big as the World Juniors might be exactly what the doctor ordered.
Having seen the World Juniors since 1989, McGuire asserted, “It doesn’t hinder players—rather, it only helps them.” “Watching Matt Poitras play right now, it’s clear that he’s not at all at ease in an NHL setting. He used to dominate the puck below the hash marks, but he’s not strong enough on the puck or the backcheck.However, he is no longer acting in that manner, and you can see that he is being roughed up and pushed around defensively.
Now that you’ve allowed him to go, he will play premium minutes because he is playing for a very excellent Canadian team—they aren’t just good, they are extremely good.
Poitras has played fewer minutes in the last two games because of his severe struggles on the defensive end of the ball. A week ago, in the Bruins’ 5-3 victory over the Arizona Coyotes, he was even benched for the third period, even though Pavel Zacha’s injury in the first period left the team without a center. Trent Frederic was moved back to center by Montgomery, and with Zacha now sidelined due to an upper-body ailment, Frederic was back in the middle onPoitras observing Friday night from the press box of UBS Arena.
Following their matchup with the Rangers tonight, the Boston Bruins have three games remaining. Before taking a break for the holiday from December 24 to 27, they play a back-to-back set of away games, at Winnipeg on Friday and at Minnesota on Saturday. They host the Minnesota Wild on Tuesday. After that, the Bruins will participate in five games of the World Junior Championship. Therefore, as part of his load management, Poitras will play four games at most between now and the tournament’s conclusion on January 5.
McGuire and this puck scribe are in agreement. Allow the child to play more games, more often, in Sweden. This will help him regain confidence and give him experience that many professional players thank for their success in the future.
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