Boston Bruins
“Coming in as a young kid, I want to give him a shot and hopefully he does well.”
Marco Sturm and the Bruins are shuffling their lineup entering Monday’s home game against the Ottawa Senators.
Boston will add two young talents to its depth chart, with defenseman Frederic Brunet and forward Matt Poitras set to make their season debuts.
Brunet will play on a third D pairing next to Mason Lohrei, with Jonathan Aspirot standing as the odd man out.
Matt Poitras — who was placed on injured reserve on Sept. 27 — will also play on Monday and center on a fourth line with Tanner Jeannot and Mark Kastelic. Sean Kuraly will draw out of the lineup up front.
To clear space on Boston’s roster for Poitras’ return to the lineup, the Bruins placed veteran forward Mikey Eyssimont on waivers for the purpose of assignment to Providence.
“He was good. He was really good,” Sturm said of Poitras’ play. “I trusted him [every] time. Now he’s got to prove it again. It’s a tough business sometimes, putting a guy like Mike on waivers but part of it is Matt. Coming in as a young kid, I want to give him a shot and hopefully he does well.”
Poitras, 22, had a strong start to training camp and preseason action before a lower-body injury sidelined him a week before the start of the regular season. It was a tough setback for a player in Poitras who was looking to build some momentum after failing to stick in the NHL ranks so far.
“It was frustrating. Legs felt good, and just kind of one step and I haven’t really dealt with an injury like that during camp before,” Poitras said. “The last couple of weeks have been just trying to get healthy and be ready for tonight.”
Poitras — who broke camp with the Bruins as a 19-year-old in 2023-24 and played 33 games with Boston the following year — has had injuries and plateaued performances hinder his development, with the 2022 second-round pick spending a majority of last season in Providence.
But Poitras could be a spark plug on Boston’s checking unit, bringing pace and playmaking ability to a line that has a pair of thumpers on the wing in Jeannot and Kastelic.
“I just want to see his strength and just being smart and skate and use those two big boys right beside him,” Sturm said of Poitras’ role on the fourth line. “I think it’s a good combination. I think it’s going to be good for him. He’ll get some touches and play a simple game and focus on those little things.”
Slotting out Kuraly could hinder Boston’s penalty kill, as Poitras is not ready to log shorthanded shifts at this stage of his development. But the Bruins’ PK hasn’t exactly been sharp so far this year — giving up three opposing power-play tallies over seven opportunities.
“He never killed before. This is not a development league, so we’ll try to get him starting in practice and getting him some reps there and build from there,” Sturm said of Poitras. “It’s not like he’s replacing Kuraly. Kuraly is not happy today. He’s a veteran.
“He’s going to push and try to get back in the lineup. And it’s a good thing. A year ago, we were not in that position. We were begging for players and now we have good depth. It’s going to be a great competition.”
Brunet sat out Boston’s first three games of the 2026-27 season after impressing during training camp — primarily while skating alongside Charlie McAvoy.
With McAvoy still in the midst of serving a six-game suspension, the Bruins will need to wait until next week to properly assess just how effective that top D pairing can be.
But for now, Brunet’s puck-moving ability and knack for peppering netminders from the blue line could alleviate some of the pressure on Boston’s D corps.
“Exactly what we all witnessed in preseason,” Sturm said of what he wants to see from Brunet. “I think it was really, really good, impressive, and he shouldn’t change his game at all. I know it’s at home and it’s his first game, but I just want to see the same [Brunet] we saw a few weeks ago.”
This will stand as Brunet’s second career game in the NHL, with the 23-year-old defenseman making his debut with Boston back on April 15, 2025.
“I couldn’t wait to get in, and I think starting at home is going to be a good experience for me,” Brunet said. “I think it’s awesome. For me, being a little bit nervous for my first game of the year. Playing with Mase, one of my good friends. I think he’s going to be great to calm me down and show me the way a little bit. Mase is awesome — it’s good to start with him.”
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