For the past few seasons, the Boston Bruins have been pretty consistently ranked at the bottom of the league when it comes to the strength of their prospect pool. They’ve been ranked last on multiple lists, and it isn’t exactly surprising when looking back at general manager Don Sweeney’s draft history. The infamous 2015 Bruins’ draft class has definitely cast a large shadow over how his drafting ability is discussed, but there have been a number of other misses as well throughout his now eight-season tenure as GM.
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But, things seem to be turning around at least a little bit when it comes to the strength of the Bruins’ prospects. They currently have three rookies on the roster: Matthew Poitras, Johnny Beecher, and Mason Lohrei, and all three have been impactful. But, digging a bit deeper, several of Sweeney’s draft selections are playing important roles on the team so far this season.
Of course, it is also important to note that the Bruins have not had a draft pick within the top ten throughout the entirety of Sweeney’s tenure and have only had a pick inside of the top 20 once (2016). The Bruins have made the playoffs every season since the 2015-16 season, the last time they missed it. They’ve been contenders the majority of those seasons and thus traded away their first-round picks in 2018, 2020, 2022, and 2023.
So the Bruins’ front office has had to draft more guys that are longer-term investments than immediate contenders for roster spots, and this season, the roster is benefitting from those drafting decisions. With two rookies making the team out of training camp (including 2022 second-round pick and 19-year-old Poitras) and another having a fantastic showing in his NHL debut this past week (Lohrei), it really feels like Sweeney’s starting to get some momentum going out of his draft picks.
The Older Selections (2015 – 2017)
The 2015 Draft will always be more remembered for who they missed rather than who they actually drafted, but Jake DeBrusk (first round, pick number 14) and Brandon Carlo (second round, pick number 37) have both become important and integral parts of the roster. That was certainly on display in their recent matchup against the Toronto Maple Leafs where Carlo played 22-plus minutes with a depleted blue line and DeBrusk got his first goal of the season and scored in the shootout victory.
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In addition, Carlo has been arguably the Bruins’ best defenseman so far in 2023-24. He has never been the biggest offensive contributor, but has three assists through the first 11 games. Even more importantly, he has been incredible in defending their zone and making things difficult for opponents on a nightly basis.
2016 first-round selections Charlie McAvoy and Trent Frederic have also been excellent so far in 2023-24. This is to be expected of McAvoy, who has been a superstar since entering the league and is off to one of his best starts in terms of offense with eight points in nine games. Frederic has had a slower build to his career, having a breakout season in 2022-23 that seems to be continuing into 2023-24. He has two goals and three points in 11 games, and just looks like a different player than what was shown in his first few seasons. He may never be as big of an offensive contributor as one might expect from a first-round selection, but he has turned into a very solid, middle-six forward.
Arguably Sweeney’s best draft pick of his career came in 2017 when he took Jeremy Swayman, who was selected in the fourth round at pick number 111. He has been arguably the best player on the entire Bruins’ roster so far this season. He has won all five of his starts and currently has a goals-against average (GAA) of 1.38 and a save percentage of .954. His GAA is the third lowest in the whole NHL at the moment, and he has been completely dialed in this whole season so far.
The Young Guns (2018 – 2020)
2018 draft pick Jakub Lauko is quickly gaining a bit of a following for his social media presence. He was a bit of a surprise to make the roster out of training camp last season, and spent 2022-23 up and down between Boston and the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL). He had a good start to this season and found chemistry on the fourth line with Beecher and Milan Lucic. He has not played since taking a skate blade to his face on Oct. 23 against the Chicago Blackhawks. But when he’s on the ice, he brings a physicality that benefits the team.
Beecher, already mentioned as one of the three rookies currently on the roster, was a first-round selection in the 2019 NHL Draft. Like when Frederic first came into the league, he’s slowly making a name for himself in the bottom-six and getting into the groove of being an NHL player. As mentioned, he found some chemistry with Lauko and Lucic, but has been able to adapt in their absence. He’s been excellent on the penalty kill and plays a good physical game. He’s only 11 games into his NHL career but looks like he’s getting better and better.
After an impressive training camp and preseason that made him one of the final cuts, Lohrei received an early season callup with the current injury situation on the Bruins’ blue line and McAvoy’s suspension. The 2020 second-round draft pick was excellent in his first game against the Maple Leafs, registering his first NHL point and garnering praise from head coach Jim Montgomery. While he may not stick around full-time in the NHL this season, he’s definitely making a good case for himself.
The Kid (2022)
The current crown jewel of the Bruins’ young players is 19-year-old Poitras. Outside of Carlo and McAvoy, the rest of these guys took two to three years to really start coming into NHL form. Poitras was expected to take that long too. Instead, he really came into his own last season in junior and put together an impressive training camp and preseason, earning a roster spot. So far, he has seven points in 11 games and has been one of the most impressive rookies in the NHL.
Poitras was a second-round selection of the 2022 Draft, coming in at pick 54. He’s part of a draft class that is looking like it has the potential to be Sweeney’s best. Other selections that year include Dans Locmelis, who is making the switch to North American hockey this year in the NCAA, and Jackson Edward, who just signed his three-year entry-level contract.
Sweeney Drafting Ability
While I wouldn’t say Sweeney is anywhere in the realm of the best drafters when it comes to GMs around the NHL, he does seem to hit on at least one player each draft. Considering the lack of high picks (and picks in general) during his tenure in Boston, that isn’t awful. Overall, I don’t think the Bruins’ prospects are necessarily as weak as people think. Poitras, Beecher, and Lohrei have all had great starts to the season and are fun to watch. There are some other guys as well who have potential or just need a bit more time to put it all together.
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The 2022 and 2023 draft classes will be particularly important ones with many Bruins players getting up there in age, and it would be best to see some of those replacements come out of their own system. They don’t all need to be NHL-ready right now like Poitras, but hopefully they will continue to develop whether that be in Providence, the NCAA, juniors, or abroad.
So while Sweeney has his misses (and he has missed badly), there have also definitely been some winners and they are playing a big role in the Bruins’ success at the start of the 2023-24 season. From here, it’s a waiting game to see how many others will join the roster either this season as a call-up or in the ones to come.