I remember when I thought Sami Pahlsson looked like the second coming of Peter Forsberg. A 1996 Colorado draft pick (176th overall) who came to Boston in the March 6, 2000, Ray Bourque blockbuster, made Boston’s 2000-01 NHL squad, played briefly and timidly for two legendary NHL coaches (Pat Burns and Mike Keenan) and, by November 18th, was a Mighty Duck.
One thing Keenan was famous for was managing up (as in the tail wagging the dog). In fairness to newly promoted GM Mike O’Connell, he also was a fan of huge so, with Jason Allison, Joe Thornton and Brian Rolston down the middle, O’C took the opportunity to feed Pahlsson to the Ducks in exchange for feisty winger Andrei Nazarov and lanky defenseman Patrick Traverse.
Under different circumstances and management philosophy – you knew this was going somewhere – Pahlsson could have had his career in Boston instead of Anaheim, where he played in two Stanley Cup finals, winning the second time around.
I promise, this is going somewhere …
Had Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci come back for one more year, Poitras would still have been kept for a long training-camp look, but he wouldn’t get the allowable nine NHL regular-season games he almost certainly will be given as Boston Bruins management tries to figure out what’s in the best interests of the talented 19-year-old center’s development.
But, alas, Bergeron and Krejci retired from hockey, and the door is as wide open as Poitras’ readiness to start his NHL career now.
Poitras (pronounced PAWtrah) is not an athletic freak, so going back to dominate in Canadian Major Junior with the Guelph Storm would not be a waste of a season or, worse, a breeding ground for bad hockey borne out of the absence of challenge. No, the 2022, second-round draft pick (54th overall) was a slightly built kid when the Bruins called his name, albeit with great hands, great eyes and a compete level. Offseason workouts have since made him beefier (5-11, 173 pounds).
Poitras has had an excellent camp, and he is back in the lineup for Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Rangers at Madison Square Garden (7:30 pm., TNT, 98.5 The Sports Hub).
The belief here is that keeping Poitras in Boston would not stunt his growth. The competition will get tougher as the regular season begins, and Poitras competes. He may have a hard time making an offensive impact, but he has earned this chance, these nine games.
Some matchups are going to be difficult, but Poitras plays a sturdy enough game to give the Bruins pause as to the growing probability that he is ready to carry forward his development in the NHL.
That’s where those nine games will come in handy. By Collective Bargaining Agreement rules, the Bruins are allowed to skate Poitras in nine regular-season games without burning a year of their exclusive rights to this player. It’s highly unlikely that the team won’t find enough facts over the first nine games of the season to make a confident decision about what happens with Poitras in 2023-24.
To his credit, he said earlier this week that his goal was make the decision difficult for Bruins management and feels as though he has accomplished that. So pencil him into the Opening Night lineup against Chicago on Wednesday, Oct. 11.
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The cuts and the waivers have begun in earnest, and the game in New York will allow some bubble players an opportunity to make one more statement.
Here is the Boston lineup for Thursday’s game at MSG:
Forwards: John Beecher, Jesper Boqvist, Patrick Brown, Charlie Coyle, Jake DeBrusk, Trent Frederic, Morgan Geekie, A.J. Greer, Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, Matt Poitras, Oskar Steen, Pavel Zacha.
Defensemen: Brandon Carlo, Derek Forbort, Matt Grzelyck, Mason Lohrei, Charlie McAvoy, Ian Mitchell, and Jakub Zboril.
Goaltenders: Brandon Bussi, Jeremy Swayman
Rink Rap with Mick Colageo 