Poitras Breaking Out: Bruins' Young Center Shines in New Role

Poitras Breaking Out: Bruins' Young Center Shines in New Role


The Boston Bruins are off to a 6-2-0 start and sitting atop the Atlantic Division, and one of the most unexpected drivers of the surge is a 22-year-old center playing fourth-line minutes. Matthew Poitras, the Bruins' 2022 second-round pick, has three goals and one assist through five games — after scoring just seven goals across his first three NHL seasons — giving Boston the secondary scoring it desperately needed.


Boston Bruins center Matthew Poitras skating with the puck during an NHL game


Poitras finished off Friday's 4-2 comeback win over the Anaheim Ducks with the insurance goal, burying a two-on-one rush set up by James Hagens late in the third period. He is a plus-3 with eight shots on goal, and the Bruins are 4-1 in games he has played as the fourth-line center.


Fourth-Line Role, First-Rate Production


Poitras opened the season buried on the depth chart behind Pavel Zacha, Fraser Minten and Elias Lindholm, yet he has turned limited ice time into efficient finishing and a high-motor game. His new role is one he openly admits is unfamiliar.


"It's been fun, and obviously it's a new role that I'm not totally used to, and I've never really played a role like this ever in hockey," Poitras told The Boston Globe. "It's just something new, just taking it day-by-day, and just trying to do the simple things right. And not too worried about still trying to provide some offense, but just trying to play a detailed game."


The path was not clean. A lower-body injury in practice limited Poitras during the preseason, but he still made the main roster — no small feat for a player who knew he would be exposed to waivers had he been assigned to Providence to start the season. Over two AHL seasons with the P-Bruins, he posted 30 goals and 85 points in 109 games, so the offensive foundation was always there.

 

Matthew Poitras of the Boston Bruins in game action

"I'm just having lots of fun being here, and the guys have been great, and it's just being on the road so early too, I feel like it's great for the group just to jell," Poitras added.


Trade Talk Won't Quit


Paradoxically, Poitras' strong start arrives while his name keeps surfacing in trade speculation. The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa recently identified him as the Bruins' top under-the-radar trade candidate, noting that the 22-year-old right-shot center with speed and skill is stuck behind Zacha, Minten and Lindholm on the depth chart. "Could another team see more value in Poitras as a top-three center?" Shinzawa wrote.


Trade questions have followed Poitras since last season as the organization evaluates its young talent, and Boston remains in the rumor mill — Pierre LeBrun has linked the Bruins to Red Wings restricted free agent Simon Edvinsson after an earlier pursuit of Kirill Marchenko fell through. A right-shot center on an entry-level-style deal producing like Poitras would be a natural chip in any larger package. His current form, however, is making any decision to move him far more complicated.


What's Next


Poitras and the Bruins will not have to wait long for the next test. Boston is in the middle of a four-game West Coast road trip, currently 2-0, and faces the winless Los Angeles Kings on Saturday night at 9 p.m. ET at Crypto.com Arena. The trip wraps Tuesday in Dallas against the Stars before the Bruins return to TD Garden to host the Nashville Predators on Thursday.


If Poitras keeps taking it day-by-day, Boston may have found the secondary scoring center it needed — and a trade asset it suddenly cannot afford to lose.

Location: Boston, MA, USA

Popular posts from this blog

Bruins Rally Past Ducks 4-2: Lindholm, Pastrnak Spark Comeback

Image
The Boston Bruins stormed back from a two-goal first-period deficit to beat the Anaheim Ducks 4-2 on Friday night at Honda Center, scoring four unanswered goals -- three on the power play -- to extend their winning streak to four games and improve to 6-2-0 on the season. Bruins Erase 2-0 Hole in Anaheim The night started badly for Boston. Tim Washe opened the scoring with 37.3 seconds left in the first period, sliding a long wrist shot through a screen and through Michael DiPietro's legs. Just 21 seconds later, Beckett Sennecke finished a slick passing play -- Cutter Gauthier touching it to Nikita Nesterenko, who fed Sennecke for the redirect at the far post -- to make it 2-0. Sennecke's tally was his fifth of the season. Anaheim controlled the opening 20 minutes, but the Ducks went into a shell. They managed only four shots on goal in the third period and were blanked on five power-play chances after entering the night with the league's second-best power play at 33.3 perce...
Read more

Red Sox Trade Rumors: Padres 'Love' Jarren Duran, Says Heyman

Image
Jarren Duran's time in Boston could be running out. MLB insider Jon Heyman of the New York Post reported on the Bleacher Report app this week that if the Red Sox trade Duran this offseason, it will "probably be to the Padres because they love him." The Athletic's Dennis Lin added fuel, reporting that Boston and San Diego have had recent trade discussions centered on the 30-year-old outfielder, per multiple reports. There is no indication a deal is imminent, but the league-wide interest is real: several clubs have reached out to the Red Sox front office about Duran's availability. Why Duran Could Be On The Move The 2026 season was the worst of Duran's career. The former All-Star batted just .207 with a .627 OPS across 151 games, making him one of the least productive qualified hitters in baseball. That is a stunning fall from his 9.0-bWAR breakout campaign in 2024, and his production has now declined two straight years, from 4.9 bWAR in 2025 to 0.4 this season....
Read more

Bruins Chase Fifth Straight Win Tonight Against Winless Kings

Image
The Boston Bruins are red hot, and they get another late night in Los Angeles tonight with a chance to make it five straight wins. The Bruins (6-2-0) visit the Los Angeles Kings (0-3-2) at Crypto.com Arena with puck drop set for 9 p.m. ET on NESN. Boston is riding a four-game winning streak after Friday night's 4-2 comeback over the Anaheim Ducks, where the Bruins trailed 2-0 before scoring four unanswered goals. Tonight is the third stop on a four-game road trip, and the Bruins have won both games so far on the trip. Swayman Returns to the Crease Jeremy Swayman is expected to start in net after Michael DiPietro earned his first NHL win on Friday in Anaheim, per NHL.com. Swayman has been excellent to open the season, going 5-1-0 with a 1.99 goals-against average and a .930 save percentage. Offensively, Boston keeps rolling through captain David Pastrnak. His third goal of the season Friday gave him 423 for his career, passing Brad Marchand for fourth on the Bruins' all-time goa...
Read more