The Bruins have little to look forward to in the upcoming 2024 NHL Entry Draft, as they only own three picks and don’t make their first selection until the fourth round.
What do we do with our spare time?
This is an opportune moment to examine the Boston Bruins’ draft record under General Manager Don Sweeney, starting with their notorious 2015 draft. You don’t need me to tell you just how bad it was, but here we are.
The criteria for determining whether an NHL draft pick is successful or a failure vary. The hockey community often measures success by the number of NHL games played, though opinions differ on the threshold – some say 100 games while others use 200. Many fans prefer to evaluate draft picks based on their statistics. Harman Dayal and Dom Luszczyszyn of the Athletic broke down the drafts from 2007 on and found your Bruins to be the fourth most successful NHL team at the draft. They took their analysis even further.
I will evaluate Sweeney’s draft history pick-by-pick and round-by-round, comparing the players the Bruins selected to those drafted afterward in the same round. I will not compare players drafted immediately before Boston’s pick, since the Bruins had no opportunity to select those players.
Let’s begin. I will share my thoughts as well. (Note- the league shown is the league they played in at the end of the season while the stats are career NHL stats)
This draft was a major disappointment for the Bruins. While Jakub Zboril was picked around his projected spot, he had some red flags that should have prompted discussion. I’m not using hindsight – I voiced worries then. Jake DeBrusk was a reach, expected to go 10 picks later, with 5 better options. I’d heard whispers of Zach Senyshyn interest, but round 2 made sense. Round 1, 15th overall was indefensible.
While the Bruins’ draft blunder that year has elicited many excuses, their new general manager’s short tenure alone does not exonerate him. Though only officially promoted a month before the draft, he had long served as assistant GM, fully involved in daily operations like drafting. To his credit, he has since overhauled the team’s flawed scouting department. Still, his oversight of the damaging pick remains inexcusable.
SECOND ROUND
The Bruins had three second-round picks in the 2015 draft, but their selections were underwhelming overall. They started strong by taking Brandon Carlo 37th overall, a smart choice that has paid dividends (though some fans still debate the pick). However, their next selection, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson at 45th, showed potential but ultimately headed back overseas to coach. While Jeremy Lauzon, picked 52nd, has played over 250 NHL games, he projected more as a third-rounder. Even Yakov Trenin, selected later by Nashville, would look good in black and gold now. Aside from the Carlo pick, this draft round was another miss by the Bruins’ scouting staff. Personally, I would have preferred Rasmus Andersson or Vince Dunn over Forsbacka-Karlsson with that 45th pick. When Lauzon was selected at 52, Andersson was still available (as was Dunn) and would have been my choice.
THIRD ROUND
The Bruins selected goaltender Daniel Vladar in the third round, but traded him after just 5 games with Boston. Vladar now backs up for the Calgary Flames. The next two picks were also goalies – Adin Hill and Samuel Montembeault. However, the bigger miss may have been Thomas Novak, chosen later in the draft.
Though this round was disappointing in a vacuum, the Bruins made some savvy moves, trading goaltender Vladar to the Flames for their 2022 third-round pick and trading down with the expansion Kraken to select Cole Spicer and Frederic Brunet. A miss is still a miss.
FOURTH ROUND
The Bruins used their only fourth round pick, 105th overall, to select Jesse Gabriel. Fans were intrigued by Gabriel’s style of play. However, the Bruins missed opportunities to select Alexander Carrier, who was drafted just 10 picks later, and Mathieu Joseph, who went 15 picks after Gabriel. But it gets worse for the Bruins’ draft. See below.
SIXTH ROUND
The Bruins had no fifth-round pick, so their next selection was 165th overall, where they chose Cameron Hughes. This proved to be a huge miss, as Andrew Mangiapane was taken with the very next pick. I was high on Mangiapane from his OHL days with the Barrie Colts and advocated selecting him in the fourth round over Gabriel. Though some felt I had Mangiapane ranked too generously, he has clearly shown himself worthy of a mid-second round pick in a redraft.
SEVENTH ROUND
The Bruins selected Jack Becker with the 195th pick, but not much has materialized from this round of selections. While Joey Daccord would be considered the best of the bunch, he did not fill an organizational need for the team at the time. Overall, this pick did not provide much value.
SUMMATION
As General Manager, Sweeney bears some of the responsibility for this draft’s failure. However, in fairness, he had only been in the job for 5 weeks before the draft and had not yet assembled his own scouting team. Replacing key scouts takes time, as desired candidates may already be under contract elsewhere. While Sweeney’s prior role as Assistant GM gave him insight into team needs and existing scouts’ views, the blame lies primarily with the holdover scouting staff he inherited but had not yet revamped.
Changes were about to come.
Dom - Hockey 
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