- Matthew Poitras is headed to injured reserve with a lower-body injury
- The 22-year-old center had dressed for just one preseason game before getting hurt
- Read below for what Marco Sturm said about his recovery timeline
Matthew Poitras is starting the season on the shelf.
The Bruins placed the 22-year-old center on injured reserve Sunday, retroactive to Sept. 22, as part of their final round of roster cuts before Monday’s league-wide deadline.
Boston Hockey Now’s Jack Studley broke down the full set of moves on X, including head coach Marco Sturm’s update on Poitras:
Poitras left practice early on Sept. 22 with what turned out to be a lower-body injury. Sturm labeled him day-to-day the next day.
Sturm gave a more encouraging update on Poitras’ recovery Sunday.
“He feels better every day, so that’s good news,” Sturm said.
The center had dressed for just one preseason game before getting hurt, centering a line with Attilio Biasca and Lukas Reichel that led Boston in puck-possession numbers. He also won an offensive-zone faceoff that set up Charlie McAvoy‘s game-tying goal that night.
His cap hit will barely register while he’s out. Poitras is on a two-way contract, and IR cap hits on those deals get prorated based on time spent on the NHL roster the previous season. He only played three games last year, so he’ll count for just $30,990 against Boston’s cap.
Development has stalled for the once-promising prospect. A second-round pick in 2022, he flashed real upside with 15 points in 33 games as a rookie in 2023-24 before a shoulder injury ended that season in February. He’s cooled off since, splitting time between Boston and Providence, and he lost his waiver-exempt status this year. If the Bruins want to send him to the AHL once he’s healthy, they’ll have to expose him first.
Boston also placed Henri Jokiharju on waivers Sunday and reassigned Dans Locmelis and Riley Duran to Providence, trimming the active roster to 23 players. The Bruins open the season Tuesday against the Rangers.
