Less than a month away from the NHL Draft, the Bruins remain on the outside looking in on the first round.
They traded the pick to the New York Rangers as part of the deal that brought them Rick Nash. If the current draft position holds, the Bruins won’t make a selection until No. 57 overall in the second round.
Don Sweeney will meet with the media in Buffalo Thursday afternoon from the NHL Scouting Combine. Check back for an update later on his comments.
For now though, we’re left with his parting thoughts from the end of the season where the Bruin general manager expressed interest in the possibility of moving back into the first round.
"When you’re left empty-handed on Friday night you wonder whether or not, okay, is there a move to be made that you can get back in there,” Sweeney said. “I’ve had some discussions, so there could be. It’s just, at what cost? But, it hurts. It stings from a projection, from a planning standpoint, there’s no question it impacts your organization. So, I don’t think it’s in your best interest to do it repeatedly, and if there’s an opportunity, I’ll explore it.”
That said, what would it take for the Bruins to get back into the first round?
BSJ Analysis
The Bruins would have to make quite the leap. It’s a 27-pick gap just to get to the 30th pick in the first round, which could come at a hefty price.
Consider the deals made during last year’s draft. The St. Louis Blues dealt Ryan Reaves to Pittsburgh, along with their No. 51 pick, for the Penguins’ No. 31 pick and Oskar Sundqvist. The Blues selected Klim Kostin, a 19-year-old forward who spent last season in the AHL.
Reaves was a bottom-six, bruising forward who fit what the Penguins were looking for. They were looking to get more physical, and Reaves plays that role well. He was ultimately shipped to the Golden Knights at the trade deadline.
The Flyers made a more resounding move when they parted with Brayden Schenn after a 55-point season. It was a surprising deal, and the Flyers flipped him to the Blues for Jori Lehtera, the 27th overall pick, and a conditional pick in this year’s draft. That pick became the 14th overall pick. That’s a big haul for the Flyers, but the price they paid for trading Schenn, who had a career-high 70 points his first year in St. Louis.
Whether the Bruins want to take that risk remains to be seen. The Bruins are well-stocked in their system. They have strong depth at the center position and a handful of defenders who will get a chance to compete in training camp.
When training camp does roll around, centers Austin Czarnik, Jack Studnicka, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, and Trent Frederic can all push for spots on the bottom six. Riley Nash is unlikely back as an unrestricted free agent which will make at least one roster spot available. Defensemen Jakub Zboril and Emil Johansson will likely be fun to watch in camp, too.
The obvious takeaway from the Bruins loss to the Tampa Bay Lightning was that they need help along the blue line. I’ve covered this before, but they need the help immediately and that answer won’t come from trading up for a draft pick.
The development of Brandon Carlo, who was injured in each of the last two seasons before the playoffs, will be a big step for the second pairing. The bigger question is whether they want to remain invested in Torey Krug, who’s offensive skill is unmatched but lacks the defensive ability to deter opponents’ secondary scoring.
With similar-sized Matt Grzelcyk behind Krug, and the veteran’s $5.25 million salary, he is a primary trade chip for the Bruins. Perhaps he’s the piece used to lure a team into a draft-day deal. It’d help the Bruins to free themselves from his salary and put it toward signing a more defensively-minded blue-liner in free agency – somebody who could help the team immediately.
If the Bruins do make a deal to get back in the first round, I could see them making one with the Rangers, who own picks No. 26 and 28 overall.
Here are three prospects worth looking at if the Bruins do make it back into the final stretch of the first round:
- Rasmus Sandin, D, 5-11, 190 pounds, left shot: The 18-year-old Swedish defenseman is a strong, two-way player who thrived in the OHL. He had 12 goals and 33 assists in 51 games for the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds. He’s highly regarded as a smooth puck-mover and is strong on breakouts, an area teams are always looking to strengthen.
- Martin Kaut, RW, 6-1, 174, right shot: Various mock drafts have cast a wide net for where Kaut will be selected. He’s an 18-year-old who’s played almost exclusively in the Czech Republic. The unknown variable here is how he will transition to North American hockey, though he did play in the highly-touted Czech Extraglia, the top professional Czech league. He’ll have to bulk up, probably 10 or 15 pounds to resemble the 190 Bruins rookie Jake DeBrusk played at.
- K’Andre Miller, D, 6-4, 205, left shot: There’s a lot to like about the size of the Minnesota native committed to play at Wisconsin. He played last season for the US National Development Team and the US U18 team. What’s interesting is that he’s a converted forward and only began playing defense three years ago. His skills as a forward allow him to join the rush but he’s still polishing his defensive game.