The Boston Bruins traded the 215th pick to the Los Angeles Kings for the Kings 7th round pick in 2023 making the 200th pick their final pick at the 2022 National Hockey League Entry Draft. And the Bruins selected from the London Knights of the Ontario Hockey League Jackson Edward.
Here are some of my thoughts on Edward from mid-April.
I have always maintained that you can’t go too wrong with a player under the coaching and tutelage of Dale Hunter. Hunter is as good as anyone at preparing players for the next level. He also takes his time with rookies, almost never rushing them and putting them into situations they aren’t ready for.
And that is how Hunter handled Edward for the majority of the season.
Just what are you getting in Edward? The consensus is that he showed flashes early in the season but it quickly went down hill from there. Those flashes were rare and few and far between as the season progressed. Just take a look at his Elite Prospects page and you will see there was plenty of offense in his game prior to arriving in the OHL. One NHL scout told me “Hard to figure him out. I saw some offensive potential there but it just disappeared.”
That wasn’t lost in the eyes of the scouting world. Central Scouting had him ranked 75th among North American skaters on their mid-term rankings and dropped him down to 123rd on their final rankings. On my final list, I ranked Edward 29th among OHL players and that would have placed him almost exactly where the Bruins selected him.
However, as the season progressed (and I assure you this probably came from Hunter), Edward simplified his game and concentrated more on the defensive aspect. He learned to become a team player and not just the offensive guy he was during his Under-15 or Under-16 seasons where the team didn’t always come first.
A pick in this range is never a guaranteed thing. In fact, it is exactly the opposite. Edward is still very green and a project that will take some time. Edward has size. He can skate. He has some snarl to his game. His hockey sense is a tad better then average. His skating, skill set and compete level are strong. And even if his offensive game doesn’t develop, if he continues to work on his defensive game, he could find a home at the next level being a shut down guy.
Edward is green and has some development time ahead of him. And if you look at the Bruins over the past few years, that’s what they are looking for at this stage of the draft.
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Dom - Hockey 