Marc McLaughlin has had his shots at the National Hockey League before, but as he was heading into his 2024-25 season debut with the Bruins on Tuesday against Vancouver, the 25-year-old veteran of 150 AHL games felt as ready as he’s ever been to stick around.

A five-game goal streak in Providence catapulted mcLaughlin back to the bigs, but the former Boston College Eagle knows that the grinding aspects of his game are what will keep him here. The goal streak has not given him any delusions of grandeur.

“I think I’m old enough to know what my game is and what I bring at the NHL level,” he said after Tuesday’s morning skate. “But I’m just really excited. It’s a culmination of a lot of work to get back here, to be back in this opportunity, to be back with this team and help them win. I’m super-excited for it.”

McLaughlin was going in on the third line with Charlie Coyle and Trent Frederic for Tyler Johnson, who came out of the lineup after picking up an assist in the B’s 2-1 win in Detroit on Saturday.

“It’s always easier when you know what’s expected and I know what makes me a good player, bringing that 200-foot game, playing with detail, playing hard, so I’m excited for that. I’m playing with Coyle and Freddy, two guys that play the right way, play hard, that should only make it easier for me,” said McLaughlin.

The Billerica native looked like a real keeper when he signed out of BC as an undrafted free agent in the spring in 2022 and scored in his first NHL game. He played 11 NHL games down the stretch and that season and had a strong camp in Jim Montgomery’s first season as head coach. But in a bit of a surprise at the time, he was sent down to Providence and spent all but two games down there, posting 13-17-30 totals while the team in Boston was on its way to winning 65 games that year.

Last season, his production was cut in half (8-6-14) and he had become a bit of a forgotten prospect.

This season, McLaughlin had caught some fire offensively, with 5-5-10 totals in 15 games. While coach Joe Sacco will take any kind of production from McLaughlin, he needs more from him.

“He’s got to fulfill that third line role…be hard to play against, get in on the forecheck, disrupt the defensemen, making sure that he’s responsible defensively and when opportunities come, he’s got a great shot,” said Sacco. “I want to see the release, I want to see it go on net. We’ve talked already about trying to be more shot—focused as a group, and he certainly can do that with his shot.”

McLaughlin believes his grown in the last calendar year.

“I think my game’s come a long way in the past year. I think I’m playing the right way, playing with detail and just more confident, more experienced and I’m excited to see how it translates,” said McLaughlin.

“I really value playing both sides of the puck, playing offense and defense and both of those have really come along for me. I’m seeing the puck go in a little more, seeing that offensive side come out and I’ve been also solid defensively.”

If McLaughlin can provide a spark for Coyle and Frederic, that would be a major bonus as well. After both players had career years last season, Frederic had just 3-3-6 totals and is minus-11 while Coyle has just 4-1-5-5 totals and is minus-10 going into Tuesday’s game. Skating, Sacco said, is the key for both of them to find their games.

“When they’re moving their feet, they’re very effective,” said Sacco. “They’re effective on the forecheck, they’re effective in the defensive zone, just all over the ice. For me, it’s about skating for those two guys, getting their feet moving, getting involved in the game physically, whether it’s being on the forecheck, whether it’s finishing checks. They have to have a physical component to their game.”…

The veteran Johnson, meanwhile, was set to take a seat again. In the 2-1 win over Detroit on Saturday, Johnson made a nice play on Justin Brazeau’s power-play goal. In Chicago last year, eight of Johnson’s 17 goals and 16 of his 31 points came on the power play.

“It’s the role that he’s in right now. He’s going to come in and out of the lineup at certain points and it’s an opportunity tonight to look at Marc, more so than anything,” Sacco said of Johnson. “I said this (Monday), (McLaughlin) deserves an opportunity. He’s played well down there and watching him in practice since he’s been called up, you can see that he’s executing at a high level right now, which is really nice to see.”….

While there had been a marked improvement in the Bruins’ defensive game since Sacco took over, Brad Marchand’s game-winner in the third period on Saturday marked the end of a 5-on-5 goal-less drought that lasted over 10 periods.

Sacco said shooting the puck is only part of the plan to get out of it.

“It’s not just being shot-ready. It’s execution,” he said. “I think our execution needs to be better, whether it’s 2-on-1 execution – we had a couple of 2-on-1s last game maybe that we didn’t execute — it’s executing down low in the offensive zone, handling passes, making good passes to your linemate, making sure that it’s on the tape. I think if our energy and our effort level continues to be high, the execution hopefully will take care of itself.”

And when the B’s do shoot the puck, Sacco said, they have to get to the rebounds. Pretty goals are nice but, more often than not, they’re not scored in that fashion.