Mason Lohrei #6 of the Boston Bruins (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)
With the 2026-27 season set to kick off Sept. 29, the NHL trade market is expected to pick up over the next three weeks, and one name to keep an eye on is Boston Bruins defenceman Mason Lohrei.
Bruins’ Left-Shot Surplus Draws League-Wide Interest
As teams try to become cap compliant and fill roster holes, the Boston Bruins, and specifically the left-shot, 25-year-old Lohrei, are an attractive option for a team in search of a reasonably priced, puck-moving defenceman with potential.
“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 opined to RG recently.
“I keep hearing Mason Lohrei as a guy that’s still out there and someone they’d still consider moving,” another NHL executive told RG last week.
Over the weekend, two more NHL team sources also said Lohrei’s name is floating around NHL trade circles, but both stressed it wasn’t necessarily “the Bruins shopping him” but rather lots of teams circling back from earlier trade conversations regarding Lohrei. Storylines like this can give bettors another reason to monitor NHL betting odds as the season approaches.
Lohrei Was In Play During The Andersson Pursuit
As reported here at RG.org last January, and later confirmed by multiple NHL insiders, the Bruins, in their repeated pursuit of now-Vegas Golden Knights defenceman Rasmus Andersson, discussed a trade involving Lohrei and their first-round pick with Andersson’s former team, the Calgary Flames.
“The Bruins made an offer [for Andersson],” an NHL source told RG.org at the time.
“I’m hearing that Mason Lohrei and the Bruins’ first-round pick are in play.”
Multiple NHL sources confirmed to RG.org that even after Andersson was dealt to the Golden Knights on Jan. 18, Lohrei was still available on the NHL trade market at the 2026 NHL trade deadline and the 2026 NHL Entry Draft. Now it appears that, once again, there could be a trade to be made for Mason Lohrei if it makes sense for the Bruins. The Bruins currently have six left-shot defencemen with NHL experience, though it should be noted that NHL roster hopeful Frederic Brunet has only one game of NHL experience.
Brunet Pushes For A Roster Spot As Jokiharju Also Available
However, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has already made it clear that the 23-year-old defenceman, whom the Bruins drafted in the fifth round of the 2022 NHL Entry Draft (132nd overall), will be given every chance to make the Bruins roster out of training camp after an impressive 2025-26 season (12 goals, 24 assists in 65 games) with the Providence Bruins.
“[Frederic] Brunet is a good example, with mobility and puck skill that he’s applied in Providence, and how is that going to translate to the National Hockey League this year? There’s a good chance we’re going to find out,” Sweeney said on July 1.
One of the sources above also told RG that the Bruins are willing to move veteran 27-year-old defenceman Henri Jokiharju, who is set to begin a two-year, $6 million contract. Obviously, though, the younger Lohrei, who is entering the final year of a two-year, $6.4 million contract ($3.2 million AAV), is more attractive.
Boston’s blue-line decisions will come into focus as camp opens, and Canadian readers can compare hockey betting sites ahead of the season opener. For a full look at how the market views the club, see RG’s Boston Bruins 2026-27 predictions, odds and best bets.
