The Toronto Maple Leafs have a chance to steal from the Bruins this time as they could swoop in and acquire Mason Lohrei to give their blueline a massive boost.
Mason Lohrei is 25 years old, just went from a minus-43 to a plus-17 rating in the span of a year, but Boston wants to trade him anyways. He's exactly the kind of buy-low defenders John Chayka needs to target this summer.
Lohrei, 25, ended up skating in 73 games for the Bruins this past season and posted 26 points and a plus-17 rating. That plus/minus is impressive alone, but the fact that he was an abysmal minus-43 the season prior - it's a stark turnaround and seeing a 60-point swing is nothing short of remarkable.
Mason Lohrei is on the trade block and has been since the beginning of 2026
But he also has been subject to trade rumours for months. Back in December and January, Bruins beat writer Jimmy Murphy actually wrote about Lohrei's availability, and Sportsnet's Nick Kypreos just added him onto his summer trade board.
Kypreos stated that Lohrei is making a decent salary and is a solid fit for other teams but Boston wants to get a bit more in return that can help them up front:
After getting into just three playoff games, I've heard the Bruins are looking into moving the 25-year-old Mason Lohrei.
He's a good player making $3.2 million for another season before he becomes an RFA, but the Bruins are doing their due diligence to see if his upside is appealing enough to another team to allow Boston to get back someone else who will help them in another part of the lineup.
Meanwhile, Murphy wrote on January 14th that the Bruins were looking to find deals for Lohrei and that he was even part of potential Rasmus Andersson trade talks as well:
The Bruins made an offer, I'm hearing that Mason Lohrei and the Bruins' first-round pick are in play.
It seems like there's a lot more smoke around Lohrei than expected and his name hasn't really wavered when it comes to trade rumours.
Toronto can give the Bruins a taste of their own medicine by stealing one of their best young players
With the Bruins holding solid defensive pieces in their system like Victor Soderstrom, Loke Johansson, Max Wanner and Frederick Brunet, and an onus on improving other areas -they may feel Lohrei is worth giving up.
If so, then John Chayka needs to get on the phone ASAP. Not only does Lohrei provide an immediate improvement in the Top-4, but he's much younger and holds more upside than Simon Benoit, Philippe Myers, Troy Stecher and Brandon Carlo; ironically a former Bruin.
Toronto has a chance to actually take something important from the Bruins this time around as they can take Lohrei and give him a prominent spot and prove to Boston they gave up on him too early.
Boston historically has taken some very important pieces from Toronto, so getting a measure of vengeance is a nice moral victory. While it won't be on the level of Fraser Minten or Tuukka Rask, getting a young defender just entering his prime isn't a bad acquisition whatsoever.
Toronto can afford him easily and as an RFA next year they can use this season as an audition process and then give him a big deal next year or let him go if it doesn't work out. But they have to get proactive because Boston may start to have second thoughts and hope things turn out with the young blueliner.
Do you think Mason Lohrei should be a target for the Toronto Maple Leafs?
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