The Boston Bruins are heading into training camp with no shortage of NHL defensemen, and they’re still getting calls on one of them.
On Tuesday morning, RG’s Jimmy Murphy reported that defenseman Mason Lohrei is drawing trade interest ahead of training camp on September 16. The Bruins are not shopping Lohrei, but instead fielding calls on the defenseman’s availability, per Murphy’s report.
“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 told RG. “I keep hearing Mason Lohrei as a guy that’s still out there and someone they’d still consider moving.”
This should not be too surprising, as the Bruins have dangled Lohrei in a trade package before. Back in January, in the pursuit of Rasmus Andersson, the Bruins reportedly offered a package including Lohrei and a first-round pick. The Bruins walked away from the table when Andersson refused to sign an extension. He landed with the Golden Knights and signed a seven-year deal on July 1.
Lohrei’s name also appeared on trade boards earlier this summer, with Sportsnet’s Nick Kypreos reporting that the Bruins were “doing their due diligence to see if his upside is appealing enough to another team.”
The Bruins went and bolstered their defensive depth on July 1, bringing in Will Borgen and Connor Clifton on the right side, and re-upping with Jordan Harris on the left. After free agency, with 10 defensemen with NHL experience on the roster, Don Sweeney said he may not be done moving pieces on the blue line.
“Yeah, I mean, there easily could be [another defenseman moved], depending on where other teams sit and the conversations I’ve had, Charlie [McAvoy]’s not playing the first six games,” Sweeney said on July 1. “You just never know between now and when we start, and injuries.”
McAvoy’s suspension also gives the Bruins an opportunity to figure out which defensive pairs work, as Sweeney said earlier this summer. Lohrei gives the Bruins some flexibility in that regard. He’s a left-shot defenseman but spent the end of last season playing on the right side next to Hampus Lindholm.
Lohrei improved from his league-worst minus-43 rating in 2024-25 to a plus-17 in 2025-26. As he prepares for camp, he told Belle Fraser of BostonBruins.com that his goal for this season is to play all 84 games and contribute in all areas of the game.
The 25-year-old is entering the second season of a two-year, $6.4M ($3.2M AAV) deal. He will become a restricted free agent with arbitration rights at the end of the 2026-27 season, and he is currently eligible to sign an extension.