Poitras was one of the Boston Bruins’ more exciting young prospects, making the Bruins earlier than many expected. But after struggling to secure a full-time spot last season, he was sent down to Providence, where he often looked like the best player on the ice. A tough preseason this fall landed him back in the AHL, and so far, he has not matched last year’s scoring pace. Through 23 games, he has three goals and ten assists, well behind the 41 points he put up in 40 games last season.

The challenge for Poitras is that the Bruins are stacked down the middle. He’s shown he’s at his best when playing center, so moving him to the wing doesn’t help his case. Boston already has Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha, Casey Mittelstadt, Sean Kuraly, Fraser Minten, and Marat Khusnutdinov, who can play center. With James Hagens, Dean Letourneau, Chris Pelosi, and Will Moore also pushing from the pipeline, winning an NHL spot becomes even harder. Unless he forces the issue with a major breakout, his path forward is not guaranteed.

Despite that, Poitras remains a talented offensive forward with high-end vision and the ability to thread passes through tight lanes. He’s proven he can score in the AHL; his seven-game goal streak last season was the second-longest in the league. Defensively, he’s average, and he’s still adjusting to NHL-level physicality, though he’s added muscle each offseason. His progress was noticeable late last year, especially in the Providence playoff run, where he drove the offense and fought through contact.

For now, the priority is finding his game again. From a fantasy perspective, he’s a non-factor in yearly leagues due to his unclear NHL path. In dynasty formats, he’s still worth holding, but more as a wait-and-see option until his situation or production improves.

Poitras began the season with Providence, his first year of being eligible to go there, and took to it right away, posting 41 points in 40 games, including 19 on the power play. He spent much of the second half of the season with Boston, though an injury (LBI) too him out for a couple of weeks and resulted in him going back to the AHL for a few games. So far, he has shown a proneness to injury that should be concerning for fantasy owners. He may turn into a 70-point player, but the more likely scenario is a 50-60 point guy with a constant risk of injury. So far he has shown reliability on the defensive side of the puck. –