Mason Lohrei

Last Season

Seven goals and 19 assists in 73 games, plus-17, at 16:54 a night. A hundred and ninety-one career games at 25.

The Finesse Game

He can pass. Nineteen assists from a second-pair defenceman is a fair return and the good ones are the stretch feeds that turn a defensive-zone retrieval into a rush going the other way. He is comfortable with the puck and looks for the aggressive option.

The shot is a point shot: 54 per cent of his attempts from beyond forty feet, median 44, seven goals.

The Physical Game

Six foot five and 218 and he does not play to the size. Twenty penalty minutes in 73 games, and in front of his own net he can be worked around by a determined winger. For a man this large that is the frustrating part.

The Intangibles

The plus-17 is a mirage and the numbers say so directly. Forty-six and a half per cent of the expected goals — 21st percentile — with the shot attempts at 47.4 per cent and the expected goals running 43.4 to 50.0 against. The scoreboard said plus-17; the play said he was being outchanced by seven goals’ worth.

Every Boston skater got the same gift from Swayman last season, so this is not a special indictment. But among the defencemen only Zadorov’s rate was worse, and Zadorov is not being asked to move the puck.

He is 25, he can pass, and the aggressive reads that produce assists are also producing chances against. That is the whole of his development from here.