It’s common practice for Boston Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery to shuffle the Black and Gold’s forward lines.
It was no different when the Bruins hit the ice at Warrior Ice Arena on Monday. Here’s the latest tweak from Boston’s bench boss:
Morgan Geekie — Pavel Zacha — David Pastrnak
Brad Marchand — Elias Lindholm — Justin Brazeau
Trent Frederic — Charlie Coyle — Tyler Johnson
Johnny Beecher — Mark Kastelic — Cole Koepke
Matt Poitras
Montgomery reunited the Bruins’ most productive line of Beecher, Kastelic and Koepke and kept a couple of duos together — Zacha and Pastrnak and Marchand and Lindholm. In a somewhat surprising move, Poitras found himself the odd man out, skating as the 13th forward.
“Other guys getting an opportunity,” was the reason Montgomery told reporters of Poitras not skating on a line, per team-provided audio.
The move would normally mean the 20-year-old forward would be a healthy scratch for the Bruins’ game against the St. Louis Blues on Tuesday, but a couple of hours later, general manager Don Sweeney announced the historic franchise assigned Poitras to the club’s AHL affiliate in Providence.
Poitras has averaged just under 12 minutes of ice time over the last five games and only four shots on goal during that time.
“More of an impact in the game,” Montgomery said of what he is looking for from Poitras. “Making more plays. Understanding our structure.”
The 2022 second-round pick has 11 turnovers across 14 games, one that led to an Ottawa 3-on-1 in Saturday’s overtime loss. Montgomery provided an honest assessment of Poitras last week when he praised the young forward’s creativity and competitive fire. However, he noted how Poitras puts himself in “bad situations” and needs to learn from those.
Sending Poitras to Providence makes sense for the development of his game and for his future within the organization.
Playing games in the AHL means Poitras will most likely see more ice time and have the opportunity to skate in all scenarios, including the power play and penalty kill.
Poitras was not eligible to play in the AHL last season due to his age but made the big club out of camp. He played in 35 games, tallying 15 points, before having season-ending shoulder surgery in February.
The Bruins had two other young players, Beecher and Mason Lohrei, spend time in Providence last season, and the pair certainly made an impact in Boston when they returned. The hope is Poitras will have the same type of development and impact during his time in the AHL.
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