Bruins call up former 1st-round pick Lukas Reichel to NHL ranks

With the Bruins’ forward corps in need of a scoring spark, the Bruins might be giving one of their trade-deadline pickups a look. ​

Ahead of Boston’s home bout against the Winnipeg Jets on Thursday, the Bruins announced Wednesday evening that they have recalled forward Lukas Reichel from Providence on an emergency basis.

The Bruins acquired Reichel — a former 2020 first-round pick by Chicago — just before the NHL’s trade deadline on March 6, snagging him from the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for a 2026 sixth-round selection.

The 23-year-old winger has appeared in three games with the Providence Bruins since his arrival in Boston, recording five points (one goal, four assists) over that stretch before getting the call back up to the NHL ranks.

Speaking after the trade, Bruins GM Don Sweeney said that the Bruins were intrigued by Reichel’s upside — even if the German-born forward has yet to fully put it all together in the pro ranks to this point in his young career.​

​“He spent a lot of time in the league,” Sweeney said of Reichel. “He’s had some success, obviously a high-profile draft, great speed, two-position player. Got moved to Vancouver for a different opportunity. It didn’t necessarily work the way he wanted it to, [has] familiarity with our coach.

​“So I think there’s an opportunity, and we look at it and say that it’s an area that we could improve our hockey club, and playing with a little more speed, inside ice is going to be paramount for him. … He’s got some upside that, as a young player, I think that our guys were intrigued by to take a swing there.”

Reichel’s speed and skill are evident out on the ice — and could be a welcome boost to a Bruins forward grouping in need of a lift further down on the depth chart.

A player with Reichel’s wheels could be an option if Marco Sturm is looking to unearth more offense out of a pair of slumping players in Morgan Geekie and Elias Lindholm. Both Geekie and Lindholm have zero five-on-five points over the last 11 games.

Still, Reichel’s skill hasn’t exactly translated to sustained success in the NHL to this point.

In his 88 career games in the NHL, Reichel has scored 22 goals and 59 points. The dynamic winger has been traded twice this season, as Chicago flipped him to Vancouver in October 2025 for a 2027 fourth-round selection.

​In 19 games between Chicago and Vancouver this season, Reichel has scored two goals and five total points.​ He also appeared in 23 games for Vancouver’s AHL affiliate in Abbotsford, scoring six goals and 13 points over that stretch.

 

Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.