Matthew Poitras. That you haven’t heard of him? No wonder. The 19-year-old Canadian has yet to taste professional hockey and is not generally considered a future superstar. However, he impressed enough in the training camp of the Boston Bruins that he could start the season in the NHL, and in an important role.
Until recently, the consensus was that if the Bruins didn’t make a masterful trade, they would have to settle for Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle in the middle of the first two attacks.
Compared to the star duo of Patrice Bergeron – David Krejčí, who definitively ended their careers in the NHL, this is a noticeable drop.
Zacha played most of last season on the left wing and has never been given as much responsibility as he is now. Coyle has been known more as a number three center during his career.
Finally, there is one more name. Matthew Poitras.
The only 19-year-old center played four out of five preparatory matches, collected four points (2+2) and in some places resembled Krejčí. “Like the former Boston player, he excels most with the puck on his stick and creating chances for teammates,” wrote The Athletic online.
At the same time, the same website did not include Poitras among the 168 greatest hockey talents under the age of 23 some time ago and called the forward’s future in professional hockey debatable.
Poitras headed to Boston as the 54th pick in the 2022 draft after a decent but unspectacular 50-point season in Canada’s junior OHL.
Last regular season, he improved to an impressive 95 points in a similar number of games (63). He finished sixth in league productivity, with 79 records he was even second.
Still, it was thought that he was only going to the Bruins training camp as an experienced player. And that a return to the OHL is inevitable.
This is due to the Canadian’s inexperience in defending and body proportions – at 180 centimeters he weighs 80 kilograms, which is not enough for the NHL.
But Poitras convinced with other qualities. “He’s very calm with the puck on his stick, even under pressure, he sets up events and smartly supports his teammates,” Boston coach Jim Montgomery praised the teenager.
The new captain of the team Brad Marchand went even further, comparing Poitras with one of the biggest stars of today, Mitch Marner: “He reminds me a lot of him in his game. He does great with the puck and he does things smart, even when he doesn’t have it.”
“He’s able to find a quieter spot on the ice where he has an extra second to do something,” Marchand continued. “And even if he’s under pressure, he can find a gap in the opponent’s defense. He has great insight.”
Poitras impressed, whether he jumped in next to other “greenies” who are fighting for a place, or stars like Marchand and David Pastrňak.
He can complete one more preparatory game, on Friday night, Boston will face the New York Rangers on the ice.
In the overseas media, however, there is already a prevailing belief that Poitras will probably start the season in the NHL as the second center behind Zacha. Words like surprise and sensation fall.
The Canadian teenager himself, who will not celebrate his twenties until March of next year, has no idea if he has really secured a place with the Bruins. “But I think I made it quite difficult for them to decide (if it is deleted, as expected – editor’s note)“, he noted.
It is possible that Boston will play Poitras in tight games and then re-evaluate if he has the NHL chops at 19 years old.
If he decides not to, he won’t let the center play more than nine games so his rookie contract doesn’t run out. Then Poitras would go back to junior because he can’t play on the farm yet due to the rules.
2023-10-04 18:14:04
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