Any number of Bruins players could be on the move between now and the March 7 deadline. Matt Poitras is not expected to be one of them.
Could something come from out of the blue in which Poitras could be packaged? Sure, that’s possible. But right now, the 20-year-old centerman is one of the few young, promising players the B’s have in their organization. He’s got skill and determination. Despite his size, he’s competitive on the puck.
Just where he fits in the lineup down the road – whether he’s an eventual top six pivot or he tops out as a third line center – has yet to be determined. Poitras, who turns 21 on March 10, is smack dab in the middle of his professional development. No matter what happens with the Bruins down the stretch, these games are vital for a player like Poitras.
One thing interim coach Joe Sacco wants him to work on his decision-making at the end of shifts. The better conditioning will come with physical maturity, said Sacco, but Poitras is still learning when it’s time pull the chute and get off the ice.
“For him, it’s about gaining that confidence as far as being able to finish shifts the right way. What I mean by that is when you get to the end of the shift, you’ve got to make the right decision. If you’re going to stay out there, you’ve got to make sure you have the energy to do it,” said Sacco. “If not, you’ve got to make sure you’re changing at the right time. There’s some game management involved in there as a young player you’re trying to learn and we’re trying to help him figure that out. Offensively, we’d still like to see him build his game. He’s done some good things. He continues to hold onto the puck in the offensive zone. He has the ability to see guys coming in late when he turns up in the offensive zone. So there’s some good things that he can build on offensively. Defensively, we’ll continue to work with him. In our system, the centerman has a lot of responsibility. Typically he’s the low forward coming back into our D-zone so it requires a lot of work, it requires a lot of details and we’ll continue to work with him in that areas. He’s done a good job for the most part.”
Poitras conceded that knowing when to change is one of the things on his development plate.
“Obviously, it’s just a habit that needs to be fixed,” said Poitras after Tuesday’s morning skate. “When you do something over and over again, it’s hard to kind of kick it. But I feel like when you go into a game, you have to just focus on short shifts and good changes. Sometimes I’ve had bad changes and it leaves my teammates in bad spots. I’m just trying work on short shifts and changing at the right time. They’re just bad habits and I have to kick it.”
Poitras is realizing that while he may not have hurt his team much when he stayed out too long against Kitchener Rangers or Erie Otters. But, say, the Vegas Golden Knights? That’s a different story. He’s realizing that, in the best league in the world, he cannot make a play every time he steps on the ice.
“Everybody is just so skilled in this league, especially when you get caught out there against some of the best players in the world,” said Poitras, wo has 1-10-11 totals in 27 NHL games this season. “If you’re tired or you’re over-extended, they’re going to take advantage of you and you’re going to get caught out there for a while. Obviously there’s going to be one or two where you get caught in the D-zone and you can’t change, but for the most part I’m trying to keep them short.”
Poitras, in general, is trying to simplify his game.
“Sometimes I look to do a bit too much,” said Poitras. “I like to make some skilled plays and hold on to pucks and sometimes I put myself in bad areas. For me, it’s just about simplifying and getting back to being in the right areas, getting over pucks and letting my skill do the rest.”….
The B’s were expected to take a look at Morgan Geekie on the first power-play unit against the Leafs on Tuesday. He was taking up residence in David Pastrnak’s usual spot on the left elbow in Monday’s practice while Pastrnak, in Tuesday’s optional morning session, was taking some feeds from Mason Lohrei on his strong side as well as in middle of the blue line.
“(Geekie) has obviously been playing well and he’s been producing a lot, so he has the shot over there on the elbow,” said Sacco. “It frees up a couple of other things for us as well with David. Teams have been doing a good job of taking him away in certain areas. We’re going to try different things moving forward with everything. We’re going to try and tweak some things here and there if we feel it can improve our team.”…
Looking to inject a little speed into the lineup against the Leafs, Cole Koepke and Oliver Wahlstrom were back in while Justin Brazeau and Riley Tufte came out.