Marco Sturm’s message to the Bruins’ blue line was clear: get more involved offensively.
That’s the kind of comment that can perk up a fan base, especially after watching the defensemen in the first-round playoff series struggle to move the puck out of their own end. The complaint has been building for a while, and now the first-year head coach appears to be leaning into it by asking his back end to do more than just defend.
For a few players at training camp, that shift could matter a lot.
Mason Lohrei looks like the clearest fit. Sturm scratched him for two different stretches last season, and Lohrei’s issues were tied to a lack of defensive structure.
But he also flashed real offensive upside. If the Bruins are going to get the kind of puck-moving impact Sturm says he wants, Lohrei is one of the few defensemen on the roster who can actually deliver it.
The catch is obvious: he still has to prove he can handle the defensive side well enough to stay in the lineup. Sturm can talk about offense in September, but the real test will come the first time Lohrei gets exposed in his own zone. Whether the coach stays committed to that approach will tell the real story.
Frederic Brunet is another name worth watching. He’d need to beat out the other nine defensemen competing for seven or eight roster spots, and offense is one area where he already stands out. That gives him a real opening if Sturm wants more production from the back end this season.
Brunet also sits right at the intersection of what the Bruins need and what Sturm says he wants. If he can provide something similar to Lohrei while being a little stronger defensively, that could give him an edge. The expectation had been that only one of Brunet or Lohrei would fit, but a more offense-minded approach could change that calculation.
Then there’s Charlie McAvoy, who makes the list for a different reason. He’s the Bruins’ best defenseman, but the argument here is that he’s at his best when he keeps things simple and plays a solid two-way game. When he tries to do too much at either end, trouble tends to follow.
With a more reliable partner, McAvoy has looked steadier, and that’s when he becomes one of the league’s top defenders. If Sturm really is giving him more freedom, the results could go either way. It might unlock more offense, but it could also lead to some tense moments.
That’s part of what makes McAvoy interesting in this setup. His Norris-contender level of play has always been held back a bit by being less offensive than the names at the very top. The expectation had been that he would settle into a more defensive role this season with a steadier partner, but this new emphasis could actually bump up his point total.
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Hroneks future still has enough mystery around it to keep the conversation alive, even with his no-movement clause and his public commitment to the Canucks rebuild. The Bruins have already seen one possible path to bringing him in slip away, and while the league rarely lets a defenseman with this profile sit in one place for long, any renewed talks will have to navigate both Vancouvers plans and the reality that some opportunities do not come back around cleanly. [Read more 🡒]