The Boston Bruins have seen a number of their best prospects either graduate to the NHL or get moved to a different organization. Let’s take a look at their top 10 prospects after the 2019 NHL Draft.
The Boston Bruins made it all the way to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. Though Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand, and Tuukka Rask led the way, a number of homegrown prospects helped them along the way. The Bruins have seen most of their best prospects from last season either make the jump to the NHL or leave for a different organization.
With an aging core, Boston will continue to need their prospects to develop so that they can account for players like Zdeno Chara getting older. Let’s take a look at their top 10 prospects after the 2019 NHL Draft.
Before I begin, I’d like to clarify a few things. First of all, everyone has a different definition of “prospect”. For me, it’s anyone who is under 25 years old (because by then you tend to know who a player is) and has yet to find a consistent spot in the NHL. Anders Bjork, for the purposes of this article, is not a prospect.
Let’s start with the goaltenders. Because, as any player will tell you, they’re special and deserve their own category.
Goaltenders
1. Dan Vladar
Acquired: 2015 third-round pick
Stats: 31 games, 2.73 GAA, .898% save percentage, 1 postseason appearance, 2.00 GAA, .926% save percentage (Providence Bruins, AHL)
Goalie prospects are like a box of chocolates – you never know what you’re going to get. So I’m going with the slightly more proven Dan Vladar over their other options. The soon-to-be 22-year-old from the Czech Republic had a nice first season in the AHL despite being one of the youngest goaltenders in the league.
Vladar’s calling card is his size, as he’s 6’5″. I like his athleticism, but he needs to get better at using his size. Vladar likes to challenge the goaltender, but he’s a bit too aggressive there. He’s made impressive strides over the past year and I think he has the potential to be the next Bruins starting goalie after Tuukka Rask.
I can’t imagine Rask will surrender his post without a good, long fight, so they can definitely afford to be patient with Vladar.
2. Kyle Keyser
Acquired: Undrafted (signed in 2017)
Stats: 47 appearances, 2.75 GAA, .915% save percentage (Oshawa Generals, OHL); 1 game, 3.15 GAA, .897% save percentage (Providence Bruins, AHL)
Kyle Keyser has a nice resume and will be making a big move to the AHL in the 2019-20 season after a successful career in the OHL. His positioning must improve, but he has impressive athleticism, which allows him to get away with his subpar positioning. Keyser also has youth on his side (he’s just 20 years old) and I like the improvements he has made over the past year.
3. Jeremy Swayman
I’ve definitely got time for Jeremy Swayman. He’s entering his third season at the University of Maine, where he has steadily developed into a pretty solid goalie. Swayman was named to the Hockey East Third All-Star Team in 2018-19 and should enter the 2019-20 season as one of the best goaltenders in college hockey.
However, he has yet to really prove himself against top competition. So that’s why Swayman’s pretty low on my list. As I said, goalies are hard to predict. That’s why I’ll tend to go with experience over everything else. Swayman’s still an unknown, but he could be something.