When it comes to Don Sweeney and the NHL Draft, you should always expect the unexpected. You may remember the disaster the first round of the 2015 draft is turning out to be for the Bruins.

With no first round pick in 2020 thanks to the trade that sent David Backes to Anaheim and Ondrej Kase to Boston, the Bruins first selection did not come until round two Wednesday afternoon.

With the 27th pick in the second round the Bruins selected USHL defenseman Mason Lohrei of the Green Bay Gamblers.

The 19-year old Lohrei had eight goals and 29 assists in 48 games with the Gamblers a season ago. He has committed to playing college hockey at Ohio State University starting in 2021-22.

Lohrei was the 132nd ranked North American skater by NHL central scouting.

While most did not expect Lohrei to go as high as he did, the 6-foot-4 defenseman is not surprised his name was called when it was.

“Not really. Like I said, I had good conversations with a lot of different guys from the Bruins, Lohrei said. “When you see them come up on the board, there’s just kind of a little feeling in your stomach and then they start to say, from the Green Bay Gamblers, and it grows a little more and they finally say your name and it’s real.”

Lohrei was draft eligible in the 2019 draft, but went undrafted after his first season in the USHL. He continued to fly under the radar during the season failing to appear on any of central scouting’s rankings until the final version.

Feeling overlooked, Lohrei plans on continuing to show up and work every day, proving his doubters wrong.

“I kind of, obviously I felt like I was being overlooked but it’s the way things go. I was never on any of the central scouting’s until the final one this season. I think, when coaches and scouts get in the rink and they see a player, it’s a whole lot different. You get to meet them and they get a feel for who you are as a person and what your game is like,” said Lohrei.

“I wouldn’t say it was a struggle not being on lists or not getting drafted. Kind of just, kept my head down and went to work every day because I knew that this would come. And here we are. I couldn’t be happier.”

Lohrei’s growth through hockey has taken him to many places. Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, Lohrei and his family moved to Redding, Pennsylvania when he was around one, and then to Madison, Wisconsin around the age of seven.

With his father David coaching professionally at the ECHL level, Mason got an early introduction to hockey as he and his family were forced to bounce around the country a bit.

“Growing up, my dad coaching professional hockey, Summer professional hockey. I was born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and then moved to Redding Pennsylvania at a young age. He was coaching in the East Coast League there. Then decided to move, I was seven or eight, we decided to move to Madison Wisconsin,” Lohrei said.

“Grew up playing for the Madison Capitals. Decided to go to Culver as a sophomore in high school. Got drafted by Waterloo, traded to Green Bay. Got here last year. it’s just a really good fit with coach Mikesch and the whole organization. I had a good year and excited to be back for another one.”

The hope is that Lohrei takes that next step forward as he enters his final year at the USHL level, and prepares for his first at the NCAA level.

While there’s still a lot to work on for Lohrei, there’s a lot he likes about his game and feels it’s what made him in an intriguing option for the Bruins.

“I’d consider myself a two-way defenseman, pretty skilled. I take a lot of pride in how I defend, how I defend the rush, how I defend in my own zone, shutting things down and making good breakout passes to the forwards,” Lohrei said.

“But then once that happens, then the fun stuff begins. I get to jump up in the play and get pucks back. Use my skill and then I see myself as – I can play in all situations. Five-on-five, power play, penalty kill, stuff like that. Start games, finish games. I think I’m just a pretty simple player overall. I like to try to control the game when I’m out there, and when I have the puck.”

Whatever Lohrei’s first step with the Bruins will be won’t be his first taste of hockey at the professional level. Lohrei was invited to the Vegas Golden Knights development camp last summer.

It was an eye opening experience for Lohrei, one that taught him a lot about his game and where he needs it to be.

“Obviously, just an amazing experience to go there last year. I learned so many things about what it takes to be a pro and what I would have to do in order to get drafted this year. I took a lot of those things to heart. Just, nutrition, weights, working out, stuff like that. And then just how you act around the rink, how you treat your teammates,” he said.

“On the hockey side of it, I think I just learned that the beginning of that camp, I wasn’t super confident. As I started to play more, I gained some confidence and felt like I belonged out there. Definitely just that, being more physical is something from that camp that I learned a lot. Something that I’m really trying to implement in my game now.”

Lohrei doesn’t know what his path to a hopeful NHL debut will look like. Whether that’s one, year in college or all four, he’s unsure. But for now, Lohrei is not worrying about how far down the road that call is going to come.

“Growing up, my dream has always been to play in the NHL. I think whenever that can happen, whenever the Boston Bruins see fit for me to come into the organization, I think I’ll be ready,” said Lohrei.

“Whether that is one, two, three, four years of college, I’m not too worried about it. I just try and stay the course here, get better every day. Whatever happens is going to happen.”

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