A Look Back at Don Sweeney’s Draft History: 2018

In the event you missed it, you can look back to 2015, 2016, and 2017.

What constitutes a successful draft or a failing draft? The hockey community looks at NHL games played to determine success, although some choose to look at 100 games as successful while others look at 200 games. Fans in droves prefer to look at stats. 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.

SECOND ROUND

The Bruins selected Axel Andersson in the second round, 57th overall. Andersson was later traded to the Anaheim Ducks as part of the Ondrej Kase deal. After playing three seasons in the AHL, he returned to Sweden this season. I had high hopes for Jack McBain and Jan Jenik (who would have also been a miss). The scouting department’s choice of Andersson is a clear a miss.

THIRD ROUND

The Bruins chose Jakub Lauko with the 77th pick, who is basically embarking on his NHL journey. Looking back, Lukas Dostal or Connor Dewar could have been solid picks though they already had Jeremy Swayman in Dostal’s case. However, it’s not a complete oversight by the scouting team. While I favored Joey Keane, he is currently playing in the KHL, so my judgment was off.

FOURTH ROUND

The Bruins chose Curtis Hall with the 181st pick. He has been moving between the Maine Mariners and the Providence Bruins. He was traded to Grand Rapids in an AHL trade. In hindsight, selecting Philipp Kurashev who was selected with the next pick or Yegor Sharangovich at 141st would have been preferable. It remains uncertain if the Bruins will extend Hall a qualifying offer. This was missed opportunity.

SIXTH ROUND

The Bruins chose Dustyn McFaul as the 181st pick based on his potential (precisely the reason I was clamoring for him), but unfortunately, his development did not meet expectations. This risk is common in late draft selections. While John Leonard showed promise, he has not found stability in the NHL at this point. Even though the Bruins never offered McFaul a contract, we must still deem this pick a wash.

SEVENTH ROUND

With the 212th pick the Bruins selected Pavel Shen. He left the Bruins in 2021 to go back home to play in the KHL. But no one selected after him is in the NHL so this is a wash.  

The Bruins obviously traded picks away in this draft but those they did make were almost all misses. The only selection we can say was remotely the best of the available players with the Lauko selection. Things need to start looking better for 2019 but we may have to wait.  

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Published by Dominic Tiano

Following the Ontario Hockey League players eligible for the NHL Draft. I provide season-long stats, updates and player profiles as well as draft rankings.

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