Matthew Poitras was one of the bright spots for the Bruins this season, earning a roster spot in training camp and largely playing a regular role since then. However, his rookie year has come to an early end as the team announced that Poitras has undergone a successful right shoulder open stabilization. That procedure carries a five-month recovery time, ending his season. GM Don Sweeney released the following statement on the procedure:
Our medical staff made the recommendation for Matt to proceed with the surgery rather than continue playing with an unstable shoulder and risking further damage. Everyone involved supported the decision as to do what was best for him at this time. Matt is just starting his Bruins career and is a key part of our future.
The 2022 second-round pick had a strong preseason showing to help him break camp with the big club in October and he didn’t look back. Poitras had five goals and ten assists in 33 games while averaging over 13 minutes a night, a strong first taste of NHL action. Boston opted to loan him to play for Canada at the World Juniors back in December and he has some success offensively in that event, recording two goals and two helpers in five contests. Upon returning, his playing time had been more sporadic with this shoulder injury clearly being the reason for that.
Boston is currently using LTIR and will likely be placing Poitras on there in the near future, giving the team a little extra salary cap flexibility. However, with Poitras on his entry-level contract, the potential cap savings will be limited as his AAV is just $870K with most of that likely being earmarked for whoever the Bruins elect to recall to take his spot on the roster. Speculatively, Patrick Brown, who has been back and forth several times this season, could be brought up to serve in the reserve forward role while it wouldn’t be surprising to see Sweeney look for some extra depth down the middle before next month’s trade deadline.
While Poitras officially burned the first year of his contract early in the season, the surgery will prevent him from hitting the 40-game benchmark which would have allowed him to accrue a year of service time toward UFA eligibility. Instead, he won’t be eligible to hit the open market until he turns 27 in 2031.