“One of my all-time favorite players I’ve ever coached,” said Carvel, the one-time Ottawa Senators assistant coach who directed the Minutemen to the NCAA Frozen Four title in 2021. “It’s because he does everything the right way. He does everything well. He doesn’t have overpowering speed. He doesn’t have an overpowering shot. He’s not overpowering [in his] physical [play]. But he does all of it at a really good level — a lot of integrity in his game.”

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To anyone who’s watched the Bruins over the past 20-plus years, such a list of bona fides summons to mind what Patrice Bergeron, then only 18, brought to Causeway Street in the autumn of 2003. The dedicated, efficient Bergeron shaped his skills into a remarkable Hall-of-Fame career (book now for that Nov. 2026 induction in Toronto).

“Ah, Bergeron … that’s a high standard,” mused Carvel, when it was noted how his description of Locmelis dovetailed remarkably with Bergeron’s skill set, “But that’s the type of player he is — just really good all the way around. His defensive game will grow with his physical stature (6 feet, 1 inch/179 pounds), but he’ll be a really good player, one who’ll chip in consistently with offense.”

To see how this begins to play out, check this space in the fall, when Locmelis will get his shot to vie for a spot on the Black and Gold varsity roster. Always best to keep in mind that the best hockey league in the world has a way of tempering expectations for nearly all, including the best and brightest prospects, who knock at its front door.

Before getting too far ahead of the Zamboni here, let’s first see how he plays in the Rookie Challenge tournament staged each September in Buffalo.

“I’m going to try to put up a lot of work this summer, so I can try for a spot in the NHL, on the Bruins roster,” said Locmelis, reached by phone in Stockholm this past week. “Yeah, that’s my goal, to make it happen, so I’ll do whatever it takes.”

That, for the most part, is what every young wannabe will say, whatever the sport, whatever the league, whatever the reality. Bruins’ fans have heard the same from countless prospects who’ve failed to make the leap. But it could be that Locmelis, selected at No. 119 in the 2022 draft, proves to be the exception. Remember, it happens. Proof: Bergeron, the 45th pick in the 2003 draft. He arrived in town with few attached expectations.

Locmelis, three years older than when Bergeron arrived on the scene, is playing on a big stage, the IIHF World Championship. He is part of the Team Latvia contingent hoping to qualify for February’s Olympics in Italy — the main incentive that led Locmelis, who only turned pro this spring with AHL Providence, to depart for the Worlds rather than remain with the Baby Bruins for their postseason run. He rolled up 12 points in his first six games with Providence, then shipped overseas after picking up a lone assist in four Calder Cup games.

“It definitely wasn’t easy,” said Locmelis, noting the process began in February, while he was playing for the Minutemen. ”It’s tough even to describe —we were going week to week, talking with the Bruins a lot. And in the end [Boston and Providence] made the decision to let me go.”

Latvia faces Finland and Slovakia this weekend. The playoff rounds begin on Thursday.

In his first four games overseas, Locmelis logged a line of 3-1—4, and received a postgame tap on the shoulder, and words of encouragement, from the great Sidney Crosby last Sunday after Canada pinned a 7-1 loss on Latvia.

Locmelis contributed a helper to the one goal vs. Team Canada, after which on-site reporter Martins Klavenieks, a fellow Latvian, posted on X that Locmelis was lost for words when Sid the Kid offered up his good words.

“He’s had a tremendous amount of international experience,” said Carvel, aware that Locmelis has suited up for Latvia every year since 2020, this his third time at the Worlds. “I watched the first period against Canada — had it on anyway — and I kept hearing his name. He had an impact. Then you hear about Crosby making the comments to him after the game … and I’m not surprised.”

According to Adam McQuaid, the former Bruins defenseman and now the club’s player development coordinator, Locmelis made great physical strides, both in terms of contact and shift-to-shift endurance, in his second year at UMass. He made himself a far better candidate to turn pro after just two seasons in Amherst.

“Dans is an excellent prospect for us,” lauded McQuaid. “I am really excited, for the step he has taken year over year. If it progresses, then who knows where he is this time next year — who knows what he could accomplish?”

Asked if he could see traces of Bergeron’s game in Locmelis, the thoughtful McQuaid called that “lofty company to be in,” preferring to say, “we just call those guys hockey players — they’re smart, able to adapt, have good brains for the game and are just competitive driven people.”

A center throughout his career, Locmelis flipped to left wing for most of his stay in Providence, working on a line that usually had Matt Poitras at center and Oliver Wahlstrom on the right side. He has been back at pivot with Team Latvia, centering a line typically with ex-Providence Bruin Eduards Tralmaks on his right wing and Anri Ravinskis on his left.

“I enjoyed every day there, because I was having a lot of fun,” said Locmelis, reflecting on his time in Providence. “I was playing with two great hockey players with high IQ, and Wahlstrom with that great shot. Really easy to fit in with those guys.”

The switch to wing, he noted, didn’t make him worry about a new position, but he also didn’t know what to expect.

“It ended up really good — I enjoyed playing on the wall,” he said. “It’s less work on the ice, less work in the defensive zone, so it was good playing on the wall. I didn’t mind it. It’s just easier to play over there.”

The Bruins’ rookies report to training camp in September. It’s possible Locmelis will be here the first week of July for what would be his fourth development camp. If not, he’ll remain home in Jelgava, just south of Riga, and concentrate on adding strength for the new season — and for however many might follow.

Dans Locmelis (center) celebrates with teammates after scoring against Slovenia in the World Championship.Anders Wiklund/Associated Press

Knockout blow?

Bennett hit changed series

That was some kind of ugly Wednesday night in Toronto, where the Panthers poured in a half-dozen goals (No. 5 by ex-Bruin A.J. Greer) in front of a dumbstruck Maple Leaf Nation before Nicholas Robertson popped one home for the locals. It moved Florida to a 3-2 series lead, but it felt like time for the handshake line. The Leafs were listless, without pushback, humiliated.

Toronto opened the series with back-to-back wins on home ice, setting up what looked like a clear path to the club’s first conference final since 2002. The killer within, though, was their loss of No. 1 goalie Anthony Stolarz midway through Game 1, the ex-Panther last seen vomiting at the Leafs’ bench after getting roughed up by the dastardly Sam Bennett (hands high if that sounds familiar).

The series took a significant turn on more than just goaltending, but the loss of Stolarz to concussion was a pivotal event. Ex-BC stopper Joseph Woll, promoted to No. 1 with Matt Murray his backup, increasingly lost confidence in Games 3-4 in Florida (5-4 and 2-0 losses).

In Game 5, Woll struggled mightily, albeit behind a cast of the TML Skating Stepfords. Woll snapped back impressively Friday night, backing the Leafs to a 2-0 shutout and forcing Sunday night’s Game 7.

Playoff teams can survive, even advance, with underperforming special teams, but it’s a struggle. There’s no overcoming a leaky net, not at this juncture, particularly against clubs still willing (able?) to grind at the net like, you know, someone will hand you a big, shiny trophy for paying that price.

Now, as for Bennett….

There was outrage aplenty in Toronto over the Bennett-Stolarz collision, which was easy to understand. An irreplaceable piece of that Florida attack, Bennett is an expert villain, a genius when it comes to disguising his well-hidden, nasty hits. Cameras caught him doing it in Round 2 last year, Game 3 vs. the Bruins, with his rabbit punch to Brad Marchand’s head that felled the Bruins’ captain near the boards. That was pretty much it for Marchand. That was pretty much it for the Bruins.

Now, that said, it seems a stretch to think Bennett’s contact with Stolarz in Game 1, in itself, led to the goalie’s concussion. The video clearly showed Bennett, who crashed the net from the goalie’s left during a power play, made contact with the goalie’s head.

Stolarz went down, and stayed down, though Bennett’s hit was a glancing blow and went appropriately unpenalized. If that alone triggered the concussion, one would have to wonder if Stolarz earlier had his bell rung. Subconcussive blows often add up, per CTE research, and can lead to things for worse than concussions.

Overall, there could be some hay to make around Bennett if an opponent so motivated were to force league bosses to scrutinize his antics. His hit on Stolarz was not egregious, but there have been plenty of others, masterfully and deliberately delivered, referees typically screened when he lands his shots.

Seven years ago, the league finally got involved and curbed Marchand’s infamous face-licking antics in the 2018 playoffs — Toronto’s Leo Komarov and Tampa’s Ryan Callahan the objects of “Marchy’s” affections. Warned to cut it out by senior VP of hockey ops, Colin Campbell, Marchand indeed has kept his tongue in cheek ever since.

An opponent kicking up a fuss over Bennett may not get him tossed for a night, or suspended for a game or two, but it could succeed in taking some of the starch out of his game. It’s that time of the season when such little things can make such a big difference.

World tour

Harvard’s Moy playing for Swiss

Former Harvard forward Tyler Moy (Class of ‘17), who tied Alex Kerfoot for Crimson scoring his senior season, is playing for Switzerland in the World Championship.

Moy, 29, was drafted (No. 175/2015) by the Predators, but soon left for Europe after a short stint (83 games) in the North American minor pros. As the weekend approached, he ranked third in Swiss scoring (2-3—5) in the World tournament.

Moy, goalie Thatcher Demko (BC) and forward Nikolas Olsson (BU) grew up in San Diego and all played college hockey here about the same time. Moy and Demko were pals dating to their pre-school days.

Demko, injured for much of this season, remains Vancouver’s No. 1 starter, and will return in the fall for the final year of his five-year/$25 million pact. Moy has completed seven seasons in the top Swiss pro league, spending the last three with Rapperswil-Jona. Olson, an ‘18 BU grad, left the game for after only 19 games with the ECHL Adirondack Thunder.

Sergei Zholtok (1992) and Martins Karsums (2004), two other Lativans drafted by the Bruins, saw very little success in their brief Black and Gold tenures. Zholtok logged 588 NHL games, the bulk of those with the Canadiens and Wild. In 2000-01, Latvian goaltender Peter Skudra manned the pipes for the Bruins for 26 games, working on a netminding staff that included Byron Dafoe, Andrew Raycroft, John Grahame and Kay Whitmore … Leo Komarov, another son of the Baltics (Estonia), played three more NHL seasons, all with the Islanders, following the ‘18 playoffs. Now 38 years old, he just wrapped up his second season playing in Finland for Helsinki … Often overlooked in the Oilers success has been the steady presence of No. 3 center Adam Henrique, long along Taylor Hall’s key support at OHL Windsor. Vastly and deservedly overshadowed by headliners Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl since arriving from Anaheim at the March ‘24 trade deadline, Henrique is very much the glue guy in the Oilers attack, playing in all situations and often rolled out by Kris Knoblauch for key faceoffs. Think of Henrique as their “Bergy Light” as the Oilers head to their second consecutive conference championship — the first time they’ve doubled up since reaching the Cup semis three straight years (1990-92) … Knoblauch, by the way, spent two seasons as an assistant with the Flyers and four years as the Rangers bench boss at AHL Hartford before then-GM Ken Holland hired him away as the Oiler bench boss. One of his big breaks along the way: Nov. 2012, when OHL Erie named him to replace Robbie Ftorek behind the Otters bench … Hall, the No. 1 pick in the 2010 draft now with the Hurricanes, is about to play in his 50th postseason game — and his first in a conference final … According to Phil Castinetti (Sportworld/Saugus), Bobby Orr, nearly 60 years since entering the NHL, remains the biggest get in the hockey card collecting biz. A prime Orr rookie card in “nice condition,” said Castinetti, will fetch $10,000 on the open market, while Wayne Gretzky’s rookie card (by O-Pee-Chee version) is around $5,000 … Hall-of-Famer John Bucyk celebrated his 90th birthday Monday. Fellow 1970 and ‘72 Cup winner Eddie Johnston is closing in on No. 90 (Nov. 24) … Headed into Friday’s Game 6, the Leafs’ Mitch Marner had scored but one goal for the series and landed but one shot on net across the three consecutive losses to the Panthers. An unrestricted free agent as of July 1, he’s rumored to be looking for north of $12 million a year (a bump from his current $10.9 million) … Ex-Bruins forward Ted Donato now has logged 21 seasons as Harvard’s hockey coach. He knows what he’s doing behind the bench and he certainly understands the city’s Black and Gold culture. Should be a guy fellow Crimson alum Don Sweeney considers as the Bruins GM ponders his coaching decision.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com.