Bruins Recall Steen; Place Lucic On LTIR

The Boston Bruins have recalled forward Oskar Steen from Providence and placed forward Milan Lucic on long-term injury reserve.

The Bruins also returned defensemen Mason Lohrei and Jakub Zboril to the Providence Bruins and recalled forwards Jesper Boqvist and Patrick Brown.

Steen is expected to replace Boqvist in the lineup tonight when the Bruins host the Detroit Red Wings.

The short-lived Lohrei and Zboril call-ups on Friday sparked some chatter on Friday night that the Bruins may be about to trade a defenseman before they host the Detroit Red Wings at 7:05 p.m. ET at TD Garden. However, New England Hockey Journal and NHL.com reporter Mark Divver, who was the first to tweet on the transactions, calmed the masses with a follow-up tweet:

Relax everyone. Hearing these are paper transactions https://t.co/lyszF29SrD

— Mark Divver (@MarkDivver) October 27, 2023

There had been some chatter that the Boston Bruins were about to recall Mason Lohrei from Providence. Most of it originated from a tweet by ESPN NHL studio host and play-by-play announcer John Buccigross on Wednesday afternoon, indicating that Lohrei was about to be recalled.

Just got off a plane in Philly….Mason Lohrei…🤔🤔…I hear he might be getting on I95. #MasonTrotNixonLine

— BucciOT.Com (@Buccigross) October 25, 2023

As of 6:30 p.m. on Friday night, though, the recalls, for now, only seemed to be, as Divver said, paper transactions.

The 22-year-old Lohrei turned a lot of heads in training camp and the preseason and had Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney working the trade market so that he could unload salary cap space and fit Lohrei onto the opening night roster.

“He’s working the phones and has been all weekend, I can tell you that,” an NHL source told Boston Hockey Now just over two hours before NHL teams had to submit their rosters at 5 p.m. on Oct. 9.. “Lohrei earned a spot. Donny and Cam [Neely] know that, and they want him to have it.”

Lohrei, whom the Bruins drafted out of Ohio State with the 58th overall (second round) pick in the 2020 NHL Entry Draft, wound up being returned to the Providence Bruins, but there’s been a feeling that the Bruins definitely planned to recall him if and when they can. Lohrei has two assists and is a plus 3 in five games for the Providence Bruins this season.