BRIGHTON – The Boston Bruins prospects are in town for the start of the 2026-27 season.
Warrior Ice Arena is hosting 16 prospects aged 25 and under, including some Providence Bruins, plus seven invitees, for rookie camp Friday and Saturday before the contingent travels west to Buffalo for two games against the Sabres prospects.
Go Ad-Free
Also Read:Bruins Announce Roster, Details for Rookie Camp and Prospects Showcase
Two players headline the group of prospects: James Hagens, the only player with NHL experience, and Dans Locmelis, who has the Olympics and World Championships on his resume.
Locmelis, drafted in the fourth round (No. 119) of the 2022 NHL Draft, has been playing with the Latvian men’s national team since the 2023 World Championships. He has nine goals since joining the men’s team, which is the second-most on the roster in that span.
He scored twice in Latvia’s 4-3 upset over Germany, but he did not return to the ice for the Providence Bruins after the Olympics.
“It feels like [the Olympics] was so long time ago,” Locmelis said Friday. “I’m just, just trying to focus right now and have fun, enjoy the games.”
Locmelis finished with 28 points (15-13–28) in 42 games with Providence last season. He felt good about the year, but it was not an easy season for the young Latvian by any means.
Locmelis dealt with an injury beginning in October and continued playing before undergoing surgery in March.
“I just had to be two steps ahead of everyone, I felt like,” Locmelis said. “Like, going into battles, but I want to come back healthy out of it.
So I had to be two steps ahead of it, and yeah, I feel like it’s going to help me in the future.”
Despite playing at less than 100% last season, Providence head coach Trent Whitfield still considered Locmelis one of the team’s “better players.”
“Dans is a 200-foot player. He plays hard on both ends.
He’s inside, not afraid of physicality. Even at 60%, 70% last year, he was one of our better players down there for most of the time he was with us,” Whitfield said Friday.
“Then we saw he even went to the Olympics and was excellent at times in that tournament. So you could tell he’s got a good hockey IQ, works really hard, and he’s got that ability in small areas to make plays.”
Locmelis is fully healthy and has been 100% for the last two months, both he and Trent Whitfield confirmed Friday. He’s been itching to play hockey after spending the last six months practicing.
He will see his first game action since the injury when the Bruins prospects are in Buffalo, and then he will take part in the shortened training camp.
“I’m just gonna try to be present, give 100% every day, every practice,” Locmelis said. “Shorter training camp definitely doesn’t help the young guys, but if you show yourself good, hopefully you can get a chance up there.”
FOLLOW @JACKSTUDLEY13 ON 𝕏 | FOLLOW @BOSHockeyNow ON 𝕏
