In an offseason where the Bruins have seemed intent on adding size, Matt Poitras has been focused on getting bigger himself.

A year ago, Poitras was the surprise success story of camp and the early season when he made the team as a 19-year-old. But the grind of the NHL wore down the 5-foot-11, 180-pound center, whose season was cut short by a shoulder injury that required surgery.

Poitras is back on the ice this week at Bruins’ development camp. Now 20 and in his third development camp, he’s healthy and eager to be back on the ice after last playing on Jan. 25.

“It’s just nice to be back here and get on the ice and kind of get some reps in,” he said. “I’m feeling good. My shoulder is feeling good. Doing everything, shooting. I feel good. No pain or anything.”

While rehabbing his shoulder impacted Poitras’ ability to work in the weight room, he tried to use the time off the ice to add strength and muscle.

“That was a good time to just get in the gym and put some weight on. I put some weight on and feel thicker,” said Poitras, who guessed he’d added 8 or 9 pounds.

“I need to put on a bit of size. I came in, I came into camp last year definitely undersized. There’s some bigger guys that maybe I couldn’t hold my own against as much. I’m trying this year to be a little bit bigger, a little bit stronger and to choose my spots a bit more because, sometimes I would take some big hits that were unnecessary. Maybe that’s why I didn’t really get the chance to finish the season.”

The goal isn’t just to ward off injury, but to be able to come away with the puck against bigger opponents.

“I want to be able to win those one-on-one battles because I’m a guy who likes to have the puck now in the zone. That’s where it stems from,” he said. “I pride myself on not being scared to go in the corners with bigger guys.

“Part of my game is that I can play and win those battles. It’s part of my game where I want to have the puck on my stick and if I want to do that, then I got to be able to get inside hands and win wall battles.”

After development camp, Poitras planned to stay in Boston through July, head back to Ontario for a few weeks then be back in August to get a head start of preparation for training camp.

Jake DeBrusk signed a deal to play for Vancouver after spending seven seasons with the Bruins. Michael Dwyer/Associated Press

JAKE DeBRUSK will start a new chapter in his NHL career after he signed a seven-year deal with the Vancouver Canucks on the first day of free agency. The forward spent his first seven seasons with the Bruins after being drafted by Boston in the first round of the 2015 draft.

On Tuesday, DeBrusk took to Instagram to bid farewell to the team that gave him a chance and the fans that he played in front of for several years.

“Thank you, Thank you, Thank you! Thank you to all of the people that I got to meet and had the pleasure of getting to know throughout my last 7 years in the black and gold,” DeBrusk captioned the photo from the 2023 Winter Classic at Fenway Park. “There will always be a place in my heart for Boston and that’s because of my teammates that I went to battle with and the fans who were with me from the start! In saying all that I am extremely excited to start this new chapter in my career and to be in Vancouver and to put on that Canucks jersey !”

The end of DeBrusk’s tenure in Boston came after a streaky regular season, but he was arguably the team’s best forward through two rounds of the Stanley Cup playoffs before the Bruins were eliminated by the Florida Panthers. He admitted he was surprised the two sides didn’t reach a deal during the season.

General Manager Don Sweeney said while the team would like to have DeBrusk back, “negotiations are a two-way street.”

DeBrusk’s time with the Bruins wasn’t always perfect. He requested a trade in 2021, but Boston never found a trade partner. Instead they signed him to a two-year extension at the deadline. In June 2022, after the Bruins were eliminated from the playoffs, the Bruins fired Coach Bruce Cassidy, and DeBrusk rescinded his trade request.

While DeBrusk neither confirmed nor denied whether Cassidy’s departure had to do with him staying, he did say after talking to his teammates that it was an easy decision to stay.

But there were plenty of moments when DeBrusk shined for Boston, including the Winter Classic when he scored two goals – including the winner – against the Pittsburgh Penguins in the Bruins’ comeback win.

DeBrusk will now have a new start in Vancouver – something he’s looking forward to.