At this time last year, Matthew Poitras knew he’d travel down one of two paths.
The Bruins entered their 2023 training camp looking to fill the immense voids left by Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci. To help the transition from the Bergeron and Krejci era, the Bruins promoted Charlie Coyle to the second line next to Brad Marchand and moved Pavel Zacha from wing to his natural center position next to David Pastrnak.
Even with an opportunity awaiting, Poitras entered his first training camp on the outside looking in of a potential opening night roster spot. Over the next three weeks, Poitras impressed the Bruins’ brass with his competitiveness and offensive upside to force their hand.