Let’s get right to it: If you were grading Mason Lohrei on his performance throughout the entire season, including the playoffs, I’d wholeheartedly agree with the high rating he received. He far exceeded my expectations and truly earned his impressive score.
That said, if we’re only looking at his regular-season performance, I initially thought he might be looking at a score closer to a 4.
Lohrei joined the team and quickly made an impact in the postseason, which may have cast a rosy glow over his regular-season performance. But I want to be clear—his regular season was not as strong as Cam Neely suggested during the locker room breakdown day.
While Lohrei showed promise as a shooter and skater, his early play was plagued by overconfidence. He frequently turned the puck over, struggled in net-front battles, lost board battles, and even screened his own goaltender unintentionally.
There were glimpses of the player he could become—nights where his aggressiveness on defense turned into an asset, creating space and prime scoring opportunities. He ended up tied for points with Kevin Shattenkirk and ranked fourth in goals at 5v5 among team defenders. On these nights, Lohrei made a noticeable difference with smart, heads-up plays.
But those flashes of brilliance were inconsistent. He would revert to the player who watched Kyle Palmieri complete a hat trick or lost Jeff Carter in a scramble, allowing him to score with little resistance. According to the Giveaway stat by NaturalStatTrick, Lohrei was effectively a taller, but arguably less effective, version of Matt Grzelcyk, recording the same number of giveaways at all strengths (29) and even more at even strength (Grzelcyk had 27). His on-ice impact analytics were only slightly better than Grzelcyk’s.
In short, Lohrei showed potential but also inexperience that sometimes made him seem out of his depth.
But what happened next completely altered Lohrei’s narrative in a dramatic way.
The playoffs began.
Suddenly, Mason Lohrei looked like a different player. He shook off the rookie jitters, eliminated the questionable passing decisions, and transformed overnight into a more confident, decisive player. He knew his assignments, picked his spots wisely, and became a key contributor for the Boston Bruins through the first round and into the second. Florida’s defense had difficulty marking him, and he rapidly became one of the most impactful players on the Bruins’ roster during the playoffs.
It was as if a different player had replaced him altogether.
Lohrei pulled it together at the perfect time, just as the defense corps started to feel the pressure.
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