The Boston Bruins are in an interesting predicament with Mason Lohrei. He has been a healthy scratch for the last five games, and the Bruins have won them all. His defensive deficiencies haven’t been missed on the Bruins’ backend, and Charlie McAvoy is playing some of the best hockey of his career alongside a new defense partner. Even if Lohrei makes his way back to the lineup, it’ll likely never be alongside Charlie McAvoy.
In a parallel universe, former Bruins’ head coach Jim Montgomery is in the same position that the Bruins were in 10 days ago. The St. Louis Blues are playing some bad hockey, and it got so bad on Thursday night that the bench boss scratched one of his top offensive forwards, Jordan Kyrou. For a coach who seemingly lost his bench in his Bruins tenure, he isn’t doing himself any favors in St. Louis.
The Bruins need some more scoring punch in their top six if they are going to be legitimate contenders. Marat Khusnutdinov has been a great story, but will he really be able to keep it going over 82 games? After watching him and Fraser Minten over the past few games, moving Khusnutdinov down to play on the wing with Minten might give the team three scary lines.
The Bruins are thin on the right wing, and lining up Kyrou behind Pastrnak, in place of Viktor Arvidsson, would give the team a formidable top-six once Elias Lindholm returns. While Lohrei for Kyrou wouldn’t be enough to get the deal done, Montgomery’s love for the defenseman while he was with the Bruins might sweeten the pot and give the Bruins pennies on the dollar in a Kyrou deal. Don’t believe me? Just make a quick internet search on Montgomery and Lohrei.
Jim Montgomery on Mason Lohrei’s development in Providence: “He’s just getting better and better since the season started, which is a sign of a guy that is a good hockey player. In camp he was excellent, so we feel he can go in and do a really good job for us." pic.twitter.com/82KJ5sqS6C
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 1, 2023
Jim Montgomery on Mason Lohrei in his NHL debut Thursday night: "He was dynamite…he played really well. His poise with the puck in all three zones was very noticeable and he made a lot of intelligent hockey plays." pic.twitter.com/2FArHl6FVT
— Boston Bruins (@NHLBruins) November 3, 2023
Jim Montgomery praises Matt Poitras and Mason Lohrei after the Bruins’ OT win over the Kings: “Those kids are special young players.” pic.twitter.com/KAtPdyMPoQ
— WEEI (@WEEI) October 12, 2024
Jordan Kyrou would be a massive addition for the Bruins
The only question for me would be how much Doug Armstrong is committed to keeping Montgomery and if he’d let him make that kind of decision on the team’s long-term future. While Montgomery is a massive fan of Lohrei (and Matthew Poitras, if you really wanted to make a spicy trade proposal), it wouldn’t make much sense for Armstrong to trade one of the team’s top players for a couple of coach favorites if Montgomery doesn’t have a future there.
Kyrou has five years remaining on a team-friendly deal after this season. He wouldn’t break the bank for the Bruins and would give them a solid second-line right wing for all of those seasons. Kyrou had 67+ points in each of his past four seasons, and is currently on a streak of three-straight seasons with 30+ goals.
The Blues aren’t going to give the Bruins a deal because of a poor 14-game sample size. The forward is too talented to just give up on. However, if he is unhappy in St. Louis and wants a fresh start, Don Sweeney has to at least put out an offer. It wouldn’t be the first time Kyrou’s name was mentioned in discussions about leaving the organization.
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