Prospect Info: Round 2 - Pick #58 - D Mason Lohrei - Green Bay Gamblers / USHL - 20/21

[KillerMillerTime]

Panic thresholds and board battle shapes?

Did I forget a pill this morning?

Low panic thresholds are a trademark of Swedish and Finn defensemenb but this kid has a name like he grew up in Hawaii.

He might be a late bloomer being so tall. Sweeney
does know his dmen so we'll see what happens.

He had better output than Mayfield of the NYI
his last year in the USHL.

 

[Tbaybruin]

He might be a ryan suter. I'm feeling it.

Hey don if I ever get real sick can I tell my doctor to tell you first so you can break the news to me?

 

[KillerMillerTime]

As a overager. Really hard to evaluate when the majority of players are younger

He had a cup of coffee with GB last year and became
their 2nd leading scorer this year as the PP QB.
I can understand trading down and grabbibg him in
the 3rd but once you hit 3rd round territory kids
like him start getting picked.

Its not like he is going to Babson for NCAA play,
Ohio St is a good program.

 

[BlackFrancis]

He had a cup of coffee with GB last year and became
their 2nd leading scorer this year as the PP QB.
I can understand trading down and grabbibg him in
the 3rd but once you hit 3rd round territory kids
like him start getting picked.

Its not like he is going to Babson for NCAA play,
Ohio St is a good program.

The problem isn't Ohio St., it's that he's attending starting in 2021.

He's going to be a Dev Camp fixture longer than Dr. Cross.

 

[KillerMillerTime]

The problem isn't Ohio St., it's that he's attending starting in 2021.

He's going to be a Dev Camp fixture longer than Dr. Cross.

He's 19 and due to his size still growing into his body.
When I was in HS, the draft age was 20, so people need
to keep in mind they are still teenagers, especially
kids not considered 1st round studs.

He absolutely had a dramatic increase in his
level of play.

 

[Dr Hook]

He's 19 and due to his size still growing into his body.
When I was in HS, the draft age was 20, so people need
to keep in mind they are still teenagers, especially
kids not considered 1st round studs.

He absolutely had a dramatic increase in his
level of play.

No goddamit they should have picked someone that can step in and help now with their late second round selection.

 

[Mick Riddleton]

I imagine stocking the pool incase they take a stab at OEL and give up prospects. Maybe Arizona was picking for us. Who knows the kid could flourish with College coaching. Cannot teach size.

 

[BadBruins]

Have to give the benefit of the doubt for now, but you absolutely have to start hitting on some of these reach picks...... I'm not educated enough to make that call. Hopefully it works out. The profile sounds intriguing. I think the last player the drafted out of the CHL was 2017 when they drafted Studnicka? It's been an interesting approach. Can't help but feel like they pigeon hole their guys. Completely ignoring what is going on around them. With little strategy.....

 

[AK37]

I can already see it......people calling him a bust in 3 years when he is 22 and not in the NHL. I trust the scouting department and there is no way they would have picked this kid so high if they weren't all onboard with the selection

People need to be patient and let these kids develop properly....just because someone doesn't crack the NHL right away doesn't make them a bust. I actually feel bad for kids like Zboril and Senyshyn and I think they're both going to break through here once they get their chance to play. I'm telling you, I saw a bunch of Providence last year and Zboril to me looked the most like a NHL regular of Zboril, Lauzon and Vaakanainen. I think Zboril just plays such a steady game that he doesn't stand out, but if you watch the little and subtle plays....he is very very solid. I try to watch things like puck retrieval to breakout / transition and he does it in a way that while it's not this dynamic highlight play, it's just so smooth. Like all young players, he had some mistakes....but most nights when I watched, he played that solid steady reliable game that won't show up in the box score but his time on ice is very very effective. I think it's just a matter of him sliding into the NHL lineup at some point this coming season

 

[Pia8988]

Feels like Don gets so caught it his guy that he doesn't look at value. Hope he works out.

 

[Lobster57]

People are acting like they reached at pick 6


it’s a complete crapshoot at this point in the draft. If you believe in a guy- take him. The difference/odds of making an impact between a player picked at 58 and 80 is negligible

big kid with some puck skills. Get him in the system and watch him grow into his body, see what happens

Man, i get it, but you better REALLY love the kid to pick him this much higher than his ranking. I don't see why they couldn't find somebody to give them anything at all to get down to like pick 75 or something

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

I can already see it......people calling him a bust in 3 years when he is 22 and not in the NHL. I trust the scouting department and there is no way they would have picked this kid so high if they weren't all onboard with the selection

People need to be patient and let these kids develop properly....just because someone doesn't crack the NHL right away doesn't make them a bust. I actually feel bad for kids like Zboril and Senyshyn and I think they're both going to break through here once they get their chance to play. I'm telling you, I saw a bunch of Providence last year and Zboril to me looked the most like a NHL regular of Zboril, Lauzon and Vaakanainen. I think Zboril just plays such a steady game that he doesn't stand out, but if you watch the little and subtle plays....he is very very solid. I try to watch things like puck retrieval to breakout / transition and he does it in a way that while it's not this dynamic highlight play, it's just so smooth. Like all young players, he had some mistakes....but most nights when I watched, he played that solid steady reliable game that won't show up in the box score but his time on ice is very very effective. I think it's just a matter of him sliding into the NHL lineup at some point this coming season

I want the kid to succeed.

But I am honestly curious, what makes you trust scouting team and their choices?

Outside of the obvious choices, none of the current scouting teams reaches or stretches have made it or accomplished in the NHL yet. Year 5 in action. Even one of them would have been enough for me to think, "well we were all wrong about player x, so maybe we should trust them.". They didn't have that moment yet...

I'm hoping the pessimist in me is wrong, but really not feeling any evidence supporting me to believe differently at this point.

 

[AK37]

I want the kid to succeed.

But I am honestly curious, what makes you trust scouting team and their choices?

Outside of the obvious choices, none of the current scouting teams reaches or stretches have made it or accomplished in the NHL yet. Year 5 in action. Even one of them would have been enough for me to think, "well we were all wrong about player x, so maybe we should trust them.". They didn't have that moment yet...

I'm hoping the pessimist in me is wrong, but really not feeling any evidence supporting me to believe differently at this point.

Every team is going to have hits and misses - but the current scouting team has the Bruins loaded with quality prospects....I said quality, not superstars

Lets face it - they never pick in the top 5 where you can get bonafide stud picks that are easy to hit a home run with, they're constantly picking in the 15-28 range. You also can't bank on every pick making the NHL and you're lucky if 2 or 3 kids from each class reach the NHL and can contribute

2015 draft they got Debrusk, Zboril, Senyshyn, Carlo, Lauzon, Vladar and JFK - yeah they could have had Barzal and Conner, but a bunch of other teams passed on them. I still think Senyshyn and Zboril have NHL careers, just because they don't skate a regular shift in the NHL at 21 doesn't make them a bust.....these kids would all be just entering the NHL if they played 4 years of NCAA hockey.

2016 they got Frederic who is on the brink of becoming a NHL regular, they hit a home run with McAvoy at #14 which he would go top 3 if they did that draft over and Ryan Lindgren has broken through with the Rangers

2017 they got Vaakanainen who is about to break through, they nailed the 2nd round pick of Studnicka who looks like he's going to be very good and will be a full time NHL regular next season and they scored big on Swayman. For what it's worth I have gotten to know a prominent head coach for a Hockey East team (his kids play hockey with my kid) and he said point blank to me last season "Swayman is the best goalie in the country (meaning NCAA)" - that's your future goalie for the Bruins

2018 they got Axel Anderson who was used to acquire Kase from Anaheim. They also look to have nailed the Lauko pick and the Curtis Hall pick who was outstanding at Yale. Dustyn McFaul is also becoming a very intriguing prospect playing at Clarkson (big defenseman who is improving), don't sleep on Pavel Shen either as he almost made the NHL roster coming out of training camp and played well in preseason

2019 they got high marks for the John Beecher pick and he had a great year at Michigan, too early to tell on the other picks from last year

Like I said....it's not about drafting superstars.....it's about drafting quality players who fill your prospect pool, improve their value and become players that can fill the holes that emerge at the NHL level, provide depth or be used as an asset in a trade to acquire talent or fill a need. People need to stop over analyzing every pick and treating everything as boom or bust....you're not going to draft all studs, but the picks that turn into Kuraly, Debrusk, Carlo, Bjork, etc are very important.

 

[WhalerTurnedBruin55]

Every team is going to have hits and misses - but the current scouting team has the Bruins loaded with quality prospects....I said quality, not superstars

Lets face it - they never pick in the top 5 where you can get bonafide stud picks that are easy to hit a home run with, they're constantly picking in the 15-28 range. You also can't bank on every pick making the NHL and you're lucky if 2 or 3 kids from each class reach the NHL and can contribute

2015 draft they got Debrusk, Zboril, Senyshyn, Carlo, Lauzon, Vladar and JFK - yeah they could have had Barzal and Conner, but a bunch of other teams passed on them. I still think Senyshyn and Zboril have NHL careers, just because they don't skate a regular shift in the NHL at 21 doesn't make them a bust.....these kids would all be just entering the NHL if they played 4 years of NCAA hockey.

2016 they got Frederic who is on the brink of becoming a NHL regular, they hit a home run with McAvoy at #14 which he would go top 3 if they did that draft over and Ryan Lindgren has broken through with the Rangers

2017 they got Vaakanainen who is about to break through, they nailed the 2nd round pick of Studnicka who looks like he's going to be very good and will be a full time NHL regular next season and they scored big on Swayman. For what it's worth I have gotten to know a prominent head coach for a Hockey East team (his kids play hockey with my kid) and he said point blank to me last season "Swayman is the best goalie in the country (meaning NCAA)" - that's your future goalie for the Bruins

2018 they got Axel Anderson who was used to acquire Kase from Anaheim. They also look to have nailed the Lauko pick and the Curtis Hall pick who was outstanding at Yale. Dustyn McFaul is also becoming a very intriguing prospect playing at Clarkson (big defenseman who is improving), don't sleep on Pavel Shen either as he almost made the NHL roster coming out of training camp and played well in preseason

2019 they got high marks for the John Beecher pick and he had a great year at Michigan, too early to tell on the other picks from last year

Like I said....it's not about drafting superstars.....it's about drafting quality players who fill your prospect pool, improve their value and become players that can fill the holes that emerge at the NHL level, provide depth or be used as an asset in a trade to acquire talent or fill a need. People need to stop over analyzing every pick and treating everything as boom or bust....you're not going to draft all studs, but the picks that turn into Kuraly, Debrusk, Carlo, Bjork, etc are very important.

Thanks for the response. And for having a lot more confidence in our prospects than I do.

During Sweeney's tenure for drafts, outside of the 1st round, we have 2 players that have played more than 60 NHL games since he started. I'm curious how that compares with other teams.

Edit: Compared to other top teams, it might be actually better than I expected after a quick search.

Every team has a list of prospects with just as much potential as the list we have, but until these guys are actually in the NHL, call me a skeptical. We are probably hitting the seasons that his drafting team will start showing its colors. So like with everything else, I guess we'll see.

 

[The don godfather]

Just saw this lohrei kid interview he has oodles of confidence and speaks very well mature at such a young age . He wants to get better and looks up at all the young stud D currently in the game such as McAvoy and Hughes. Hes big mobile and has scoring ability. I absolutely think the bruins got a 1st round talent player in the 2nd round. I'm gonna keep a close on this kid . He will be a bruin soon book it.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

Every team is going to have hits and misses - but the current scouting team has the Bruins loaded with quality prospects....I said quality, not superstars

Lets face it - they never pick in the top 5 where you can get bonafide stud picks that are easy to hit a home run with, they're constantly picking in the 15-28 range. You also can't bank on every pick making the NHL and you're lucky if 2 or 3 kids from each class reach the NHL and can contribute

2015 draft they got Debrusk, Zboril, Senyshyn, Carlo, Lauzon, Vladar and JFK - yeah they could have had Barzal and Conner, but a bunch of other teams passed on them. I still think Senyshyn and Zboril have NHL careers, just because they don't skate a regular shift in the NHL at 21 doesn't make them a bust.....these kids would all be just entering the NHL if they played 4 years of NCAA hockey.

2016 they got Frederic who is on the brink of becoming a NHL regular, they hit a home run with McAvoy at #14 which he would go top 3 if they did that draft over and Ryan Lindgren has broken through with the Rangers

2017 they got Vaakanainen who is about to break through, they nailed the 2nd round pick of Studnicka who looks like he's going to be very good and will be a full time NHL regular next season and they scored big on Swayman. For what it's worth I have gotten to know a prominent head coach for a Hockey East team (his kids play hockey with my kid) and he said point blank to me last season "Swayman is the best goalie in the country (meaning NCAA)" - that's your future goalie for the Bruins

2018 they got Axel Anderson who was used to acquire Kase from Anaheim. They also look to have nailed the Lauko pick and the Curtis Hall pick who was outstanding at Yale. Dustyn McFaul is also becoming a very intriguing prospect playing at Clarkson (big defenseman who is improving), don't sleep on Pavel Shen either as he almost made the NHL roster coming out of training camp and played well in preseason

2019 they got high marks for the John Beecher pick and he had a great year at Michigan, too early to tell on the other picks from last year

Like I said....it's not about drafting superstars.....it's about drafting quality players who fill your prospect pool, improve their value and become players that can fill the holes that emerge at the NHL level, provide depth or be used as an asset in a trade to acquire talent or fill a need. People need to stop over analyzing every pick and treating everything as boom or bust....you're not going to draft all studs, but the picks that turn into Kuraly, Debrusk, Carlo, Bjork, etc are very important.

I don't know if we can say the Bruins are loaded with quality prospects unless we are being generous. No neutral source would agree.

Unless of course we are buying into the Bruins apparent philosophy that any NHLer is a success, therefore drafting based on the floor of NHL depth.

 

[Beesfan]

I'm really just left to question if the Bruins are only scouting certain leagues. The primary reason they are taking this player is probably because his plays on the same team as our 2019 draft pick Schmaltz, so they viewed him a lot. He may be a good player, but there are a lot of good players in a lot of other leagues, starting with, I dunno, the QMJHL, OHL and WHL. The USHL is a good league, and worth scouting, but we need to look everywhere for the best players.

 

[BruinsFanSince94]

Taking a step back and ignoring the fact this kid should not have been taken in the 2nd round, I do trust Sweeney and co. with their development of defensive prospects. He has the read up for what you look for in a defenseman.

 

[Ratty]

It makes no sense to have drafted this man at that slot. If he were rated in the 130s he would most likely be selected in the third round at best, fourth probably.

Wouldn’t it be prudent to swap that pick with a team looking for a particular player, move down a few spots, maybe to the third round,and then acquire another Pick in, say the fourth round where the Bs had no selection?
At least try. Show some imagination.

 

[Gator Mike]

It makes no sense to have drafted this man at that slot. If he were rated in the 130s he would most likely be selected in the third round at best, fourth probably.

Wouldn’t it be prudent to swap that pick with a team looking for a particular player, move down a few spots, maybe to the third round,and then acquire another Pick in, say the fourth round where the Bs had no selection?
At least try. Show some imagination.

Would depend on how much they liked the kid, no?

 

[NDiesel]

I want the kid to succeed.

But I am honestly curious, what makes you trust scouting team and their choices?

Outside of the obvious choices, none of the current scouting teams reaches or stretches have made it or accomplished in the NHL yet. Year 5 in action. Even one of them would have been enough for me to think, "well we were all wrong about player x, so maybe we should trust them.". They didn't have that moment yet...

I'm hoping the pessimist in me is wrong, but really not feeling any evidence supporting me to believe differently at this point.

Was Debrusk not considered a reach? Plus if there is one spot we should actually trust Sweeney and Co, I'd argue it's with the scouting, drafting and developing of Dmen.

 

[Dr Hook]

I don't know if we can say the Bruins are loaded with quality prospects unless we are being generous. No neutral source would agree.

Unless of course we are buying into the Bruins apparent philosophy that any NHLer is a success, therefore drafting based on the floor of NHL depth.

McKeen's rated the Bruins prospect pool at #7 in the league. That's a neutral source.

 

[Ratty]

Would depend on how much they liked the kid, no?

No, it shouldn’t. Look, I’m not privy to inside info and maybe they did try to work out a swap. But regardless of how much they like the guy, wouldn’t it be a good idea to try to pick up an extra pick in a later round? If could have gotten Lorelei in say the third.

 

[EON]

I really want to trust the Bruins scouting department, overall their record is pretty good outside of the 2015 first round debacle, but I find it a bit hard to believe they couldn't have traded down a few spots, still have picked Lohrei, and snagged perhaps an extra 4th in the process. Every extra pick counts. I hope Lohrei proves them right though and becomes a solid player in a few years.

 

[PatriceBergeronFan]

McKeen's rated the Bruins prospect pool at #7 in the league. That's a neutral source.

That is astonishing. That is an outlier. It simply does not make any sense either when looking at our prospects. Every team has this, and better - largely due to the Bruins success in recent years.

The Hockey Writers has them at a more logical 26th as of a month ago.