Matthew Poitras: Should I Stay or Should I Go?

The season was 2020-2021. It was supposed to be his rookie Ontario Hockey League season. It was supposed to be his pre-draft season. And it was lost due to the COVID-19 Pandemic. With it, a year of development was taken away.

Still, many hockey pundits thought Matthew Poitras could be a late first round pick. NHL Central Scouting had him as an A prospect on their players to watch list – which indicates a 1^st round candidate. A few even thought two teammates – Danny Zhilkin and Jake Karabela were ahead of him. It didn’t take long to realize the Poitras was the best of the group. After scoring 21 goals and 29 assists while playing all 68 games, things were looking bright.

So, why did he drop to the second round, 54^th overall to the Bruins?

That’s not an easy question to answer, but part of it is this: The missed 2021-2022 season. While most of his draft cousins played some sort of hockey that season, and had a basis to determine how their trajectory was going, Poitras did not have any. Therefore, he was considered a gamble.

You all know by now that Poitras had a breakout season in 2022-2023 scoring 16 goals and a whopping 79 assists in 65 games.

In early June and several times after that while on the Black N’ Gold hockey podcasts, while others were talking about Mason Lohrei and Fabian Lysell making the Bruins out of camp, I had a warning for the co-hosts and fans listening: “Don’t sleep on Matthew Poitras”.

You see, I knew his work ethic, his determination and his will to do whatever it took to make Bruins management and coaching staff’s decision a difficult one.

I heard all the excuses on why he should be sent back to the Guelph Storm for one more season. The one I heard most often was that he needed another year to add some bulk and some muscle or he’s one hit away from missing some serious time, or worse. I have several arguments to that, first being any player that straps on the skates is always just one hit away. Secondly, I have seen Poitras take a beating and bounce right back up. When I was told “well, they are just small OHL players” I was reminded of the hit laid by fellow prospect Jackson Edward, who stands 6’3” and 191 pounds. When I saw the hit, the first thing I thought was “he’s going to miss some time”, but he bounced right back up as if nothing happened. When you’re an excellent lacrosse player, you quickly learn how to take a hit. In two full OHL seasons, Poitras missed 5 games – 4 due to suspension and one a rest before the playoffs.

The other argument I heard for a return to the OHL was to work on his defensive game. I can literally come up with a half dozen sensational defensive plays Poitras made that made highlight reel films. But you have to understand, it’s not that defence was not part of his game, it’s because he wasn’t asked to play defence. His sole role for Guelph was to go out there and create offence every single shift. That’s what they needed from him and that’s what he delivered. But if you watched every single shift, when the offence wasn’t happening, could see he had a full understanding of the defensive game and his responsibilities. He was so good offensively, he rarely had to defend.

There were some concerns and questions raised about his goal total dropping from his draft year to his draft-plus-one year. I understand those concerns. Poitras is such an intelligent player that he recognizes where the best chance for his team to score is, so he’s not always looking to take his own shot. And he makes those players better.

Let me give you two examples: Braeden Bowman scored 27 goals in 60 games during the 2021-2022 season. The following season, riding alongside Poitras, he upped that to 33 in 54 games. On the other side was Max Namestnikov who scored 4 goals in 18 games for the Sarnia Sting before a trade brought him to Poitras’ right. He scored 35 goals in the next 47 games. Without Poitras, Bowman and Namestnikov are on pace for 23 goals each this season.

Now that everyone has had a look at what Poitras is capable of, what I’m hearing most often is “there is no way they can send him back to the OHL because there is nothing else for him to do at that level.” Before I respond, let me just say I don’t believe he should be sent back, but hogwash. He can still develop in the OHL and he could be even better.

Poitras is a magician on the right-side half wall on the powerplay. I said many times he was Marc Savard like in that position. I even openly hoped that he would be traded to the Windsor Spitfires at last season’s trade deadline to receive tutelage from Savard himself. That spot is taken in Boston and he’s forced to play the opposite side, one he played sparingly for the Whitby Wildcats U16 4 years ago.

Shortly after the Bruins drafted Poitras, I had him on a podcast and asked him about teammate Cam Allen who had just represented Canada at the Hlinka-Gretzky Cup. His eyes widened and the smile on his face stretched ear-to-ear. He was genuinely happy for his teammate and when I responded to him with a “that’s a sign of a good leader” and he spoke about wanting to become a leader. We know how important leadership is to the Boston Bruins, a role that would be a couple of years away in Boston.

I can almost guarantee that he would represent Canada at the World Junior Championships as well. He would dominate the OHL and he could lead Guelph on a run. Those aren’t negative things in his development.

But I don’t think he should be sent back.

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