Mason Lohrei, selected by the Bruins in the second round of the 2020 draft, signed an AHL amateur tryout agreement with the Providence Bruins on Friday.
Lohrei, 22, helped lead Ohio State to the NCAA tournament in 2022-23, where the Buckeyes defeated Harvard in the first round before falling to Quinnipiac last Sunday. He was named to the Bridgeport regional all-tournament team following the loss after tallying one goal and two assists, and drew praise from Quinnipiac coach Rand Pecknold.
“He’s a special player. He’s elite. He should probably be in the NHL right now and probably will be in about a day or two, is my guess,” said Pecknold after the Bobcats advanced to the Frozen Four with a 4-1 win over Lohrei’s OSU squad.
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“A player of that stature and that caliber — going back to when Cale Makar played at UMass and we played them all the time — you’ve got to defend guys like that in layers. You can’t just be one on one.”
Lohrei was ranked first among Ohio State’s defensemen in scoring with four goals and 28 assists in 40 games, earning a second team All-Big Ten selection. As a freshman in 2021-22, the 6-foot-4, 204-pound blueliner led Ohio State’s defense in scoring with four goals and 25 assists in 31 NCAA appearances.
Before joining the Buckeyes, Lohrei played three seasons in the USHL with the Green Bay Gamblers from 2018-21. He led all USHL defensemen and ranked sixth in the league in scoring after posting 19 goals and 40 assists for 59 points in 48 games in his final season with Green Bay.
Follow Andrew Mahoney @GlobeMahoney.