The Boston Bruins have seemingly finalized their roster to start the 2025-26 NHL season. One of the more discussed talking points during the preseason was which young players would make the NHL roster and which players would find themselves cut from training camp and assigned to the Providence Bruins in the AHL. One interesting name many kept tabs on throughout the process was Matt Poitras. The 21-year-old ultimately failed to crack the opening night roster and will start the season in Providence, but that doesn’t mean he won’t get another taste of NHL action at some point this season.
For Poitras, failing to make the roster is obviously a disappointing outcome. At 19 years old, the 2022 second-round pick found himself sticking with the Bruins for 33 games before his season ended prematurely due to injury. He’d make the best of the opportunity, too, scoring five goals and 15 points. He’d follow that up with a goal and 11 points in 33 games last season, though he didn’t show the team enough to merit a full-time look in the NHL; he’d spend 40 games with Providence last season and scored 17 goals and 41 points.
Getting extra seasoning in the AHL wasn’t necessarily a bad thing for Poitras, but it was still surprising that the team couldn’t find room for him on their roster given how disappointing the entire team looked throughout the season. Poitras made the best of it, though, and many assumed he’d be a strong candidate to be a full-time NHL player this season.
As it stands, Poitras is in limbo. He’s not quite up to the standard of what the Bruins’ coaching staff is looking for to be an NHL regular, but he’s also probably too good to be playing in the AHL for any extended period of time. With that said, the Bruins are better off letting Poitras play full-time and get big minutes, showcase what he can do and earn a call-up to the NHL, as opposed to letting him sit in the press box until they finally decide to dress him for a game. It’s a tough spot to be in, and Poitras not requiring waivers to be assigned to Providence may have also played a role.
The Road Ahead for Poitras
For now, all Poitras can do is listen to his coaches and work on the little details that can take him from fringe-NHL player to NHL regular. The good news is that head coach Marco Sturm has already made it clear that Poitras’ effort level is there in practice. He isn’t failing to produce or be effective in the way the team wants due to a lack of effort. If anything, Poitras needs to just play a little more freely on the ice and not overthink things from a shift-to-shift basis. This is easier said than done, especially as a young player with the weight of being a roster bubble sitting firmly on his shoulders.
Related: Bruins Superlative Award Predictions for the 2025-26 Season
Throughout training camp and the preseason, it seemed like there wasn’t going to be enough room for both Poitras and Fraser Minten on the roster. Given Minten’s performance, it’s not surprising that Poitras failed to earn a spot. It’s disappointing, though, that the roster construction didn’t leave him with much of a fair opportunity to truly compete.
From the start, it was an uphill battle for Poitras to make the roster with the Bruins going on a signing spree during free agency, filling many of the spots that would have been available for him on the roster with veteran players. For better or for worse, this was the route that general manager Don Sweeney felt was best and Poitras was a casualty of it in the end. If he performed undeniably well this preseason, Poitras would have made the roster. Unfortunately, this wasn’t the case. He showed flashes of the playmaking that made him stand out as a rookie but struggled to consistently impact games against NHL-caliber competition.
As of right now, Poitras knows where he stands. He knows he was in consideration until the very end and that consistent AHL performance could be the difference between staying in Providence and earning a call-up to Boston. The pressure’s still there, but how he channels it will define whether this setback becomes a turning point or a missed opportunity.