Matthew Poitras landed on IR as the Boston Bruins get set for tonight's puck drop against the Rangers. Elliotte Friedman isn't buying it.
Speaking Monday on The FAN Hockey Show, Friedman said he "actually wondered if that was an excuse to keep him off waivers because he was practicing on the weekend."
That's a loaded line from the most connected voice in the sport. He even hedged the injury itself with an "I guess."
And the timing matters. Boston hosts New York tonight, then heads out on the road for a back-to-back in Winnipeg and Minnesota on Friday and Saturday.
Final roster calls always squeeze the bottom six before a trip like that. IR is the one door Don Sweeney can open without exposing anybody to the other 31 clubs.
The 22-year-old center has spent two seasons bouncing between Boston and Providence. Last season, he got only three NHL games, scoring once.
Providence production puts Don Sweeney on the clock
The AHL work wasn't the problem. Poitras put up 44 points in 69 games with Providence in 2025-26.
He tacked on four more points in four playoff games. The year before, he produced 41 points in just 40 AHL games.
Players who score like that in the minors usually get a longer runway than this.
His NHL résumé is thinner. The rookie season in Boston produced 15 points and a +4 rating.
The follow-up dipped hard. He managed 11 points and went minus-5 in 2024-25.
Career-wise, he sits at 27 points through 69 NHL games. Not a star line. Not a throwaway one either.
Money isn't the obstacle. He carries an $850,000 cap hit through 2026-27 before reaching restricted free agency, and David Pastrnak costs more than 13 of him.
Putting a player who was practicing days earlier on IR is like leaving your jacket on a bar stool. Nobody's sitting there. Nobody else gets the seat either.
Here's the problem. If the Bruins are this protective of Poitras, they clearly think he's an NHL player. So why isn't he dressing?
Parking a second-round pick who already cracked a point per game in the AHL is a bad plan. It burns development time the club can't get back.
Drafted 54th overall in 2022, he's no long shot anymore. Marco Sturm has a center who has produced at every level below him.
Boston also needs answers. The Bruins dropped a 3-2 decision past regulation in Washington on Friday, their second straight loss.
Friedman's question will hang over the Bruins until Poitras either dresses or has to clear. If he's in a lineup against the Jets or Wild next week, the IR story gets a lot harder to explain.
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Should the Bruins give Matthew Poitras a full-time NHL spot instead of parking him on IR?
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