The Bruins are walking into training camp with a crowded blue line, and Mason Lohrei has emerged as one of the names generating calls.
According to RG’s Jimmy Murphy on Tuesday morning, Lohrei is drawing trade interest ahead of the Sept. 16 start of camp. Boston is not actively shopping the defenseman, but teams are checking in on whether he might be available.
“With their surplus of left-shot D, lots of teams are looking at them and wondering who will be the odd man or men out,” an NHL executive told RG. “I keep hearing Mason Lohrei as a guy that’s still out there and someone they’d still consider moving.”
The chatter around Lohrei isn’t coming out of nowhere. The Bruins have already floated him in trade discussions before, including back in January when they were pursuing Rasmus Andersson.
At that point, Boston reportedly put together a package that included Lohrei and a first-round pick, but the Bruins backed away when Andersson declined to sign an extension. Andersson was later dealt to the Golden Knights and signed a seven-year deal on July 1.
Lohrei’s name also surfaced on trade boards earlier this summer. Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reported that the Bruins were “doing their due diligence to see if his upside is appealing enough to another team.”
Boston added more bodies on defense on July 1, bringing in Will Borgen and Connor Clifton on the right side and re-signing Jordan Harris on the left. After free agency, the Bruins had 10 defensemen with NHL experience on the roster, and Don Sweeney said he could still move another piece from the back end.
“Yeah, I mean, there easily could be [another defenseman moved], depending on where other teams sit and the conversations I’ve had, Charlie [McAvoy] ’s not playing the first six games,” Sweeney said on July 1. “You just never know between now and when we start, and injuries.”
McAvoy’s suspension also gives Boston a chance to sort out its pairings, something Sweeney pointed to earlier this summer. Lohrei adds some flexibility there because even though he shoots left, he finished last season on the right side alongside Hampus Lindholm.
The 25-year-old also took a noticeable step forward in the stat sheet, improving from a league-worst minus-43 in 2024-25 to a plus-17 in 2025-26. As he gets ready for camp, Lohrei told Belle Fraser of BostonBruins.com that his goal this season is to play all 84 games and help in every area of the ice.
He is entering the second season of a two-year, $6.4 million deal with a $3.2 million average annual value. Lohrei will be a restricted free agent with arbitration rights after the 2026-27 season, and he is already eligible to sign an extension.
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