Story by
Don Sweeney Explains Bruins’ Blue Line Decisions
- Story by
- Don Sweeney Explains Bruins’ Blue Line Decisions
Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
The Boston Bruins have a crowded blue line, which means some players have to fall out of the lineup on a nightly basis.
On Wednesday night, Bruins GM Don Sweeney addressed the media, alongside president Cam Neely and CEO/alternate governor Charlie Jacobs. Among the topics discussed during the 44-minute press conference, two specific defensemen came up:
Advertisement
Henri Jokiharju and Mason Lohrei .
JOKIHARJU
Henri Jokiharju played in 41 games this season, missing a large chunk of the season due to injury. After returning in January, he played in 16 of the Bruins' last 40 games. He represented Team Finland at the Olympics, winning bronze, and will play for them again in the IIHF World Championships.
"To me, it's allowing a coach to make his own assessments of how players are playing and systematically, and on Henri to respond to that," said Don Sweeney. "There are times he did really well. A lot of times, Henri came back in the lineup, and his first game was really good, and maybe it drops off a little bit. But coming back into the middle of the series, with the stakes where they were, he's a pro. He responded really well."
Advertisement
"From a capable standpoint, a lot of it's still on the player to be able to provide what the coach is looking for and adjust. And then the coach has to reset. If he does do that, you've got to give him a little rope to allow it to play out."
Sweeney, amidst chaos at the 2025 trade deadline, flipped a fourth-rounder to the Buffalo Sabres and acquired Jokiharju, whose contract was set to expire at the end of the year. Immediately after the trade, he slotted onto the top pair with Nikita Zadorov , and together, they emerged as a true shutdown threat for the Bruins ( 12-5 goal differential ).
Jokiharju signed a three-year contract worth $9 million ($3 million AAV) on June 30, 2025, and he is one of three Bruins' right-shot defensemen under contract next season, along with Charlie McAvoy and Billy Sweezey .
He was okay with the season he had, achieving his goals, but knows that there was room for more.
Advertisement
"Ups and downs and great experience. Olympic medal. Got a couple [of] games in the playoffs," Jokiharju said on breakup day. "So if I think about the start of the year, definitely was the goal being in the Olympics and in the playoffs, so a few of those things are kind of good, but I think it could be lots better."
LOHREI
Mason Lohrei played in 73 games during the regular season, the third-most among Bruins defensemen, but he watched the last three playoff games from the press box in Boston and Buffalo.
Lohrei said that it was a "behind closed doors" decision. Don Sweeney said that he "lost his confidence a little bit in the playoffs."
Advertisement
In November, Marco Sturm scratched him and said that " he should be pissed. " The message was received, and once he returned, Lohrei played in 57 straight games before suffering an upper-body injury. He found success on the right side, his opposite hand, playing alongside Hampus Lindholm .
Sweeney praised that move, saying Lohrei is showing "a lot of what he's capable of doing."
Lohrei rebounded this season. Last year, he finished with the league's lowest plus/minus rating, coming in at minus-43. This year, he finished with a plus-17, good for a 60-goal swing.
"You look year over year in terms of where he was defensively last year in our lineup versus what he was able to accomplish this year while, albeit still doing some of the things offensively that we all really like," Sweeney said. "I think he can continue to shoot more, shoot quicker, quicker execution. It's just a continued development that he has to adhere to at times."
Advertisement
At 25, he is the youngest defenseman on the Bruins' blue line. The Bruins signed him to a two-year extension before this season; he makes $3.2 million per year for one more season. Sweeney does not think his development is stunted, and noted he is still a young player at the position.
"I always try to get faster, quicker, you know, foot speed, and that's a big one, just skating and getting quicker," Lohrei said about his focus for the summer. "And then continue to get stronger and fill out my frame."
"But [Sturm] doesn't dislike Mason the same way that he doesn't dislike Henri. It's just night to night, he's trying to put the best lineup together," said Sweeney.
FOLLOW @JACKSTUDLEY13 ON π | FOLLOW @BOSHockeyNow ON π
The post Don Sweeney Explains Bruins' Blue Line Decisions appeared first on Boston Hockey Now .
