19-Year-Old Rookie New Frontrunner to Replace Patrice Bergeron in Boston
Patrice Bergeron's shoes aren't easy to fill, but the Bruins need a first-line centre. It appears they may have found him.
Matthew Poitras to Start the Season as Bruins 1C?
If there was one trend during the Bruins' past few years, it was that they seperated their offense through two lines. Despite having all three pieces for a perfection line, with Brad Marchand, Patrice Bergeron, and David Pastrnak, they opted to keep them on different lines.
With both Bergeron and David Krecji retired, the Bruins no longer have either of their C pillars. In the organization, it was assumed that Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle would fill up those spots, but a new name has emerged - 19-year-old Matthew Poitras.
From Likely Cut to Top of the Lineup
Essentially a surefire cut headed into camp, Poitras has now played two straight games on a line with captain Marchand and Jake DeBrusk - and he's looked fantastic doing it.
Marchand compared him to superstar winger Mitch Marner in a new interview:
He's a great little player. He's got a bright future ahead of him. He reminds me a lot of (Mitch) Marner, the way that he plays. He's smart on both sides of the puck.»
Many are now projecting him to start the season on that first line:
Marchand-Poitras-DeBrusk
JVR-Zacha-Pastrnak
Matt Poitras has been THAT good in camp.
Marchand Poitras DeBrusk
Freddy Coyle Geekie
Lucic Beecher Lauko
Grzelcyk McAvoy
Lindholm Carlo
Forbort (sadly) Shatty
Ullmark
Swayman
Let's roll for the Bruins 100th!
JVR - Zacha - Pastrnak
Marchand - Poitras - DeBrusk
Frederic - Coyle - Geekie
Lucic - Beecher - Lauko
Anyone talking about a 9 game trial, please respectfully shut up. This kid is ready for 82 games.
#NHLBruins
Marchand-Poitras-DeBrusk
JVR-Zacha-Pastrnak
A 19-year-old second rounder coming up to be the teams' 1C? We've seen this before - back in 2004 - and his name was none other than Patrice Bergeron.
| POLL | ||
OCTOBRE 4 | 37 ANSWERS 19-Year-Old Rookie New Frontrunner to Replace Patrice Bergeron in Boston Do you think Matthew Poitras has what it takes to be a 1C in the NHL? | ||
| Yes | 17 | 45.9 % |
| No | 20 | 54.1 % |
| LIST OF POLLS | ||
![Feb 12, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] View of a Team Canada logo on a jersey worn by a member of the team during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre.](https://i.marqueur.com/habsetlnh/medium/663107.webp "Feb 12, 2025; Montreal, Quebec, CAN; [Imagn Images direct customers only] View of a Team Canada logo on a jersey worn by a member of the team during a 4 Nations Face-Off ice hockey game at Bell Centre.")
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YESTERDAY
MAY 1, 2026
| ||||
| G | A | PTS | ||
| Mitch Marner | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| Zach Benson | 1 | 1 | 2 | |
| Rasmus Dahlin | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Tage Thompson | - | 2 | 2 | |
| Gage Goncalves | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Brett Howden | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Josh Norris | 1 | - | 1 | |
| David Pastrnak | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Mattias Samuelsson | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Colton Sissons | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Cole Smith | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Alex Tuch | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Kailer Yamamoto | 1 | - | 1 | |
| Ivan Barbashev | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Josh Doan | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Jack Eichel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Brandon Hagel | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Noah Hanifin | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Dominic James | - | 1 | 1 | |
| Kaedan Korczak | - | 1 | 1 | |
| COMPLETE STATS | ||||