Boston Bruins NHL Draft Grade, Prospect Analysis/Review
Other than one somewhat questionable move, the Boston Bruins had a couple decent days at the draft table. After selecting Boston University D Charlie McAvoy at 14th overall, GM Don Sweeney reached for a second year in a row nabbing Trent Frederic at 29th. Last year, it was Zachary Senyshyn that Sweeney made a surprise early pick on.
In the end, Boston took three American defenders, and a trio of Europeans on top of USNTDP product Trent Frederic. Both McAvoy and Lindgren are left-handed shots, with hopes being that the Boston U product eventually step up to help replace the void eventually left by Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg.
Below, we have included our mock draft prospect profile for each player selected. Directly underneath is our final mock draft ranking/team, as well as NHL Central Scouting’s Final Ranking.
Boston Bruins NHL Draft Grade: B-
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Boston Bruins NHL Draft Prospect Analysis
Our Final Mock Rankings: 25th (Dallas)
NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings: 6th NA Skaters
After spending most of his time occupied between 10th-20th in our mock drafts, with a few editions slotted into the Bruins 14th spot, McAvoy finished 25th in our final rankings.
It wasn’t due to anything he did to hurt his draft stock, but says more about how well the other defensive prospects played down the final stretch.
Our Final Mock Rankings: 59th (St.Louis)
NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings: 47th NA Skaters
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Leave it to Don Sweeney to go way off the board with a first round draft pick.
We still don’t know if he made a good decision on reaching for Zachary Senyshyn in 2015, so it’s unclear if his odd approach will prove successful.
Say what you want about Sweeney, but if he feels strongly enough about a prospect, he has proven he will pull the trigger and isn’t willing to take chances that the player will be around for their next pick.
Our Final Mock Rankings: 65th (Columbus)
NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings: 49th NA Skaters
Here’s a guy with ceiling potential to slide in alongside Colin Miller on a future Bruins second pairing. Starting his NCAA career with the University of Minnesota this Fall, hockey fans will become better familiarized with Ryan Lindgren as a top World Juniors roster candidate.
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Our Final Mock Rankings: Not Ranked
NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings: 27th EU Skaters
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Our Final Mock Rankings: Not Ranked
NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings: Not Ranked
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Our Final Mock Rankings: 94th (Florida)
NHL Central Scouting Final Rankings: 18th European Skater
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It may be a little soon to question GM Don Sweeney’s draft tactics after two short years, but we can definitely call his approach strange. As they say, “it doesn’t matter how you get there, as long you get there”. If the B’s odd drafting style works, that’s all that matters.
Regardless of whether or not Trent Frederic proves worthy of his 29th overall selection, Bruins fans can take comfort in knowing they snagged two of the top left-handed defenseman from the 2016 class.