The acquisition of Lukas Reichel by the Bruins from Vancouver for a sixth rounder was barely an afterthought on trade deadline day two weeks ago.

But on Thursday, the B’s hoped that the 23-year-old first round pick from 2020 could breathe some life into the team’s lagging secondary scoring. After notching 1-4-5 totals in three games in Providence, Reichel was called up and inserted into the lineup on the third line with Elias Lindholm and Morgan Geekie in what had been the Mikey Eyssimont/Alex Steeves spot for the B’s game against Winnipeg.

“I told him the importance of what I want to see out of him and the second part (of the message) was just to be himself,” said Marco Sturm after the B’s morning skate. “He’s here for a reason, because he will give us a little bit of speed and skill. Just looking forward to having him here.”

While Reichel is not known for getting to middle ice, one of the knocks on his game, he is able to motor. That’s what Sturm wants to see.

“Speed is something we’ve been lacking and some skill. You can see it already on the power play on the second unit. Hopefully he can translate it to the game as well,” said Sturm. “He’s here for a reason. He played some really good games in Providence. I like that. We’re always looking at that in calling guys up. They have to earn it. I think he earned it down there for a few games and that’s why he got the call.”

The hope is that Reichel can unlock something in Geekie and Lindholm that neither Eyssimont nor Steeves has been able to, at least since the Olympic break. But the veterans need to do their part as well. Geekie has two goals since the break and Lindholm has just one.

“I actually like Lindy’s game the last few games. I think he was good,” said Sturm. “I think Geeks needs to move his feet a little bit better and just focus a little bit on the grinding game and not just scoring goals. That’s something he has to learn, too. I’ve been talking to him so hopefully Lukas will give him a little bit of speed and protection in getting pucks so they don’t have to go back for pucks all the time.”

Sturm knew Lukas’ father Martin from the German national team. Martin grew up in Czechia with his brother Robert, the long-time NHLer, and Sturm said that he had coached both David Pastrnak and Pavel Zacha at the youth level.

“It’s nice to speak some German with Marco. I don’t know him really good, just my Dad knows him pretty good. He seems like a great coach, great guy,” said Reichel, who added he didn’t know Pastrnak or Zacha well but was looking forward getting to know them better.

While he was surprised at the trade because it came shortly before the deadline, he said that he knew Boston had always been in the mix to get him.

The 6-foot, 170-pound Reichel has been able to score at a good clip in the AHL (49-85-134 totals in 147 games) but it hasn’t yet translated to the NHL (22-37-59 in 188 games). His most productive season was last year when he had 8-14-22 in 70 games but the Blackhawks, who chose him with the 17th overall pick in 2020, moved him to Vancouver at the start of this season for a fourth round pick.

“For me, I just need to bring the energy on the ice and a lot of speed and just play my game, have fun,” said Reichel.

“(I have to) use my speed and don’t be afraid to try something out there and don’t be afraid to mistakes. For me, it’s all about being good mentally. Just playing with energy, play to win and play good defensively, too.”….

The Bruins scored a power play goal on their first opportunity in Montreal, after allowing a shorthanded breakaway to Josh Anderson, but the PP backslid during subsequent chances. Going into Thursday’s game against the Jets, they were 5-for-39 since the Olympic break.

“It was a big goal (in Montreal) so we have to build on that. We’ve got to build on something. It’s not like everything is bad. But I see it just as you see it,” said Sturm. “The flow is just missing throughout the game. Again, we tried to switch a few things around. I can’t tell you what it is but at the end of the day, these guys are our best players and it’s one of the reasons why our best players and best skilled guys are on the power play. At the end of the day, they have to get it done, too. We go through slumps like that but those are the ones who get you out of, too. Again, we’ve just got to grind it away. We do everything possible to help them and now we just have to go out and do it.”

One of the biggest improvements on the PP earlier in the year was on the entries. But lately, and especially later in the Montreal game, the opposition seems to be sniffing out the double-barreled entry with Pavel Zacha and Lindholm. It sounds like some tweaks will be coming on the entry, which the B’s did not show in the morning skate.

“There’s a few things that I don’t want to get into,” said Sturm. “The biggest thing is we’re going to be compact and we’re going to come with speed. Seems like every time, we were not on the same page and we were slowing things down and getting into trouble. You want to do it only once, and do it right. You don’t want to go two or three times. The clock is ticking so you don’t want to end up in a bad situation. So take your time, do it right. Overall, we’ve been a pretty good entry team so we just have to get back to it.”