You can smell it in the air – hockey is right around the corner. Boston Bruins prospect Matthew Poitras is already at OHL training camp!
Locked on Boston Bruins host Ian McLaren has you covered with a fall preview episode.
It all kicks off with the 2023 Prospects Challenge in Buffalo, followed by Bruins training camp and a six-game exhibition schedule before the regular season begins Oct. 11 against the Chicago Blackhawks.
Could some prospects make noise in camp? What positional battles are on tap? Let’s discuss!
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2 Comments
It won’t be like last year, but it will be fun to watch it all shake out. Go B’s
Poitras doesn't have the size, physicality or the play speed to be an effective Top 6 player in the NHL. He excelled in Guelph last year as an over age 19 year old playing against 16-17 year olds. He'll be 20 competing against teenagers again this upcoming season in the OHL. The universal scout projection on Poitras is "middle six" at his ceiling. Junior points don't mean anything in terms of NHL projection. Some guys dominate the OHL and can't ever crack an NHL lineup, some guys have lousy careers in the OHL and become good NHL players. But that all boils down to size and skill and do those OHL players have NHL size and skill. With Poitras many scouts question his skills translating to the NHL. He's not eligible to play in the AHL this year and there is ZERO chance they have play in the NHL this year
Poitras is getting the exact kind of "homer" praise that future busts like JFK and Studnika did. Both players, like Poitras, lacked a lot of what it takes to play successfully in the NHL. But both guys were touted as the next Bergeron and Krejci for how many years again?
Maybe Poitras works out but the chances of him becoming a Top 6 center for the Bruins or any other team in the NHL is very small and if that does happen, it's years away Bruins homers
Neither Colye or Zacha have had success as a Top 6 center. Every time Coyle has been tried in the Top 6, that experiment fails and he's dropped back down to 3c
Zacha has a 6 year audition in NJ as a Top 6 center, which failed miserably. It saw him get traded, it's why NJ fans were glad to see him go and it's why he wound up on the Hockey News 2019 Top 10 Draft Busts of the last decade. He's lousy on face offfs, is an inconsistent scorer and he hasn't handled the pressure of being a Top line player very well in the NHL
JVR or Trent Frederic in the Bruins Top 6 or any team's Top 6 is a joke
The Bruins Bottom 6 is filled with nothing but old vets past their prime or AHL tweeners with no proven success in the NHL
Four of the Bruins 7 defenders this year will be Grzelyck, Shattencrap, Forbort and Zbroril. Beyond Lohrei there is nothing in Providence so any longer term injury to McAvoy, Lindholm or Carlo could easily spell disaster
Merkulov- Small, Not physical. Not an elite play maker. Has an NHL shot and that's about it
Harrison- Already got moved to wing. Not a good skater. NHL shot and size but not much else
Beecher- Allergic to offense his entire hockey life. Ceiling is nothing more than that of a 4th line PK guy
No 1st again until 2025
No 2nd again until 2026
Not drafting until the 4th round in 2024
No 1c to be found anywhere (and not assets to acquire one)
NHL's worst farm system
NHL's worst draft capital situation
Cap Prison
No way to improve due to crap farm system and lack of draft capital
This team will be taking a HUGE step back not just this year but for the next few years as the no draft capital, crap farm system and limited roster will more than ensure that
However, none of this, so reality, will stop Bruins Homers and Don Sweeney Apologists from declaring the Bruins will be "fine" and that they'll likely be a playoff team
The Bruins failed to win more than 1 playoff round 7 of the past 8 years with real 1c and 2cs in Bergeron and Krejci and with far deeper teams
The fact that anyone thinks this team without a real 1c or 2c, next to no depth and no way to improve due to lack of assets is going to be a competitive playoff team is nothing short of laughable
Maybe they surprise but this team is going to have to get worse before they get better and it's about to get much worse around here
When the 5 and 6 game losing steaks kick in and it's mid November and Zacha and Coyle have combined for 5 goals, with 4 of them on the power play, things will be getting ugly fairly quickly at TD Garden this year