BOSTON — No player is ever happy being scratched from the starting lineup. Boston Bruins head coach Marco Sturm hopes that defenseman Mason Lohrei is more than displeased.

“He should be pissed. He should be very pissed,” Sturm said Saturday before the Bruins took on the Carolina Hurricanes at TD Garden. “He works very hard in practice. He’s ready, but he has to wait for his opportunity.”

Marco Sturm on Mason Lohrei:

“He should be pissed. He should be very pissed. He works very hard in practice. He’s ready, but he has to wait for his opportunity. I think that’s the goal, having him out and being a little bit different when he comes back. Watching from upstairs,…

— Andrew Fantucchio (@A_Fantucchio) November 1, 2025

After appearing in each of Boston’s first 11 games to start the year, Lohrei has spent the last three watching from the press box.

Defense has not been a strong suit of Lohrei’s early in his career. Last season, he notably finished with the worst plus/minus rating of any player in the league (-43). So far this year, Lohrei has an even rating, but that’s only because some of his routine defensive lapses haven’t ended up in the back of the Bruins’ net.

While the entire team has had to adjust to the new defensive structure introduced by Sturm this season, Lohrei appears to be having a harder time than most.

“I think that’s the goal, having him out and being a little bit different when he comes back,” said Sturm. “Watching from upstairs, watching other players, what they do well, what they do wrong, it’s a learning process for him right now.”

The recently called-up from AHL Providence Jonathan Aspirot has taken over Lohrei’s spot in the lineup for the time being. While he doesn’t provide nearly the amount of offensive upside as Lohrei, the Bruins can at least rely on Aspirot not to hurt them in their own end.

“He’s closing very quick,” Sturm said of Aspirot. “With the way we play in the D-zone, that’s huge for us. He’s had good sticks, is closing in really well, and has fit in right away to our group.”

Coming off a stretch in which they lost seven of eight games, the Bruins have won two straight without Lohrei in the lineup.

They’ll try to make it three against the Hurricanes.

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