Here’s what to know about the Bruins’ Day 2 picks in 2022 NHL Draft

After sitting out the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft on Thursday night, the Bruins will be busy on Friday up at Montreal’s Bell Centre — with Don Sweeney and Co. slated to pick six times over the final six rounds of the draft. 

Here is a quick look at the new players that the Bruins scooped up during Day 2 on Friday afternoon: 

ROUND 2 - Pick No. 54

Matthew Poitras — C, Guelph Storm (OHL)
Height: 5-foot-11Weight: 176 pounds
Stats: 68 games played - 21 goals, 29 assists

Pre-Draft Rankings:

Ranked No. 74 overall by TSN/Bob McKenzie
Ranked No. 87 overall by TSN/Craig Button
Ranked No. 45 overall by NHL Central Scouting (North American skaters)
Ranked No. 73 by McKeen’s Hockey
Ranked No. 78 by EliteProspects.com

In a far-from-shocking move, the Bruins added to their pool of center prospects with their first pick in the 2022 NHL Draft, although perhaps not the pivot that most had projected.

We focused on Guelph Storm center Danny Zhilkin during our pre-draft preview, noting that the pivot’s high-end offensive tools could be a welcome addition to a farm system that benefitted immensely from Fabian Lysell’s arrival last summer. 

But instead of talking Zhilkin, the Bruins opted for another Guelph center in Matthew Poitras — who was projected to go in the late second / early third round on Friday. While a prospect like Zhilkin might offer a bit of a higher ceiling with his O-zone tools, Poitras presents a higher floor as a potential NHLer, with the 18-year-old impressing in his first full season in the OHL due to his high motor, two-way acumen and hockey smarts. 

At this stage in his development, it seems as though a hefty portion of praise for Poitras revolves around some of the finer details of his game — such as his effort on the forecheck and ability to break up plays with his backchecking. 

“I like to look up to a guy like Brayden Point or kind of a grittier guy like Anthony Cirelli," Poitras said. "Gritty forward, likes to go in the corners. Obviously, Cirelli scores big goals and I kind of see myself as that player – skilled, gritty forwards.”  

Of course, in order for Poitras to take the next step in his career, he will need to round out his offensive skillset, because he can’t expect to routinely generate Grade-A chances in the pro ranks off of forced turnovers, especially given his relatively average frame. 

However, there are some facets of Poitras' game that B’s fans should like when it comes to reaching that second gear in his O-zone capabilities, be it his skating talent, on-ice vision and deceptive play with the puck. 

The Bruins have a prospect in Poitras who, at the very least, could become a high-energy, bottom-six pivot capable of wreaking havoc on the forecheck. Of course, the Bruins will be hoping for a bit more, although that will come down to just how much the young center can continue to round out his offensive skillset. 

A video feature on Matthew Poitras - the Bruins’ second-round pick: pic.twitter.com/zOVMnGdIEI

— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) July 8, 2022

Bruins associate director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau on Poitras: "Great center from Guelph. We really liked a lot of the things he’s done this year offensively. A little bit of versatility, can play the wing, pretty good motor. We liked the skill level. We envision him playing in the middle. We think there’s some growth left to his game and sort of an upward trajectory. Just a player that, for us, we were really happy to add. We think he’s got offensive skillset that should help us out. ... “He’s got a lot to work on, as a lot of young kids do. 

"But we just see a player that’s a driver, someone who has the puck a lot and can make things happen. Even when he doesn’t have the puck, the motor is running. He’s getting involved. He’s just someone who keeps getting into dirty ice. We’re expecting some physical growth, along with a little more offensive growth. I think the skating is going to come a little bit. Again, I think from talking to our sports performance group and some of the stuff they looked at at the testing combine, I think we’re just really comfortable with where the player is heading. We’re looking at the upside and the growth trajectory part to really bank on the player.”

ROUND 4 - Pick No. 117

Cole Spicer — C, USNTDP
Height: 5-foot-10
Weight: 176 pounds
Stats: 58 games played - 20 goals, 19 assists

Pre-Draft Rankings:

Ranked No. 121 overall by NHL Central Scouting (North American skaters)
Ranked No. 82 by McKeen’s Hockey
Ranked No. 90 by FCHockey
Ranked No. 91 by DobberProspects
Ranked No. 90 by Smaht Scouting

The Bruins accumulated more assets when they dealt their third-round pick (No. 91 overall) to the Seattle Kraken in exchange for both a fourth-round pick (No. 117) and a fifth-round pick (No. 132).

With their first fourth-round selection, Boston once again added another center — snagging pivot Cole Spicer from the U.S. National Team Development Program. Spicer was a bit further down on the Team USA depth chart (he had seven teammates taken in front of him in the 2022 draft order), but Spicer was a useful cog for his team — serving as a netfront option on the NTDP’s power play despite his rather pedestrian 5-foot-10 frame.

Much like Poitras, Spicer’s strengths lie in his motor and willingness to engage along the boards and down low. The North Dakota native is expected to play for the University of Minnesota Duluth this upcoming season — joining a program that has a track record of rolling out B’s prospects such as Karson Kuhlman, Nick Wolff and Quinn Olson. 

There is still more offensive potential that Spicer needs to draw out of game, especially as he moves on to the collegiate ranks. But the young forward seems to have been a good value pickup for Boston, given that most projected the rugged forward going in the third round. 

“Andrew Copp I would say," Spicer said of an NHLer that he models his game after. "Just a responsible forward who scores goals, but he gets to the tough areas and is solid defensively.”

Bruins associate director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau on Spicer: "Left-shot center from the U.S. National Team Development Program. A kid who was a pretty prolific scorer before getting to the program. Played a little bit down in their lineup this year on a deep team with some top centers ahead of him. Again, another kid that we think offensively has a bit of an upward trajectory and skillset, going to Minnesota-Duluth — they’ve done a great job developing players. We have a lot of comfort with that path for the player, so we’re really excited about that."

ROUND 4 - Pick No. 119

Dans Locmelis — C, Luleå HF J20
Height: 6-foot-0
Weight: 170 pounds
Stats: 44 games played - 18 goals, 16 assists

Pre-Draft Rankings

Ranked No. 177 by McKeen’s Hockey
Ranked No. 179 by FCHockey

Another pick, another center for the Bruins — who added Locmelis to their pipeline after a promising season in Sweden, primarily for Lulea's junior team. 

Locmelis, who hails from Jelgava, Latvia, is more or less cut from the same cloth as Poitras and Spicer. Namely, he’s regarded as a smart, two-way center who operates with good pace, but his high-end talent has yet to consistently pop so far in his young career. 

Locmelis is just the latest forward that the B’s have plucked from the Swedish leagues over the last few drafts — with European scouting coordinator P.J. Axelsson building a pretty impressive track record as of late when it comes to identifying late-round talent such as Oskar Jellvik (Round 5 - 2021). 

Bruins associate director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau on Locmelis: "Latvian center that played in Lulea in Sweden in juniors. Also played for the Latvian national team. Another kid who’s maybe a bit more of a shooter type in the middle, scored quite a few goals this year in Swedish juniors. Path there is, I think he’s in Lulea again next year and then could veer from there in terms of where he ends up after that."

ROUND 5 - Pick No. 132

Frederic Brunet — D, Rimouski Océanic (QMJHL)
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 185 pounds
Stats: 63 games played - 12 goals, 34 assists

Pre-Draft Rankings:
Ranked No. 112 by EliteProspects.com
Ranked No. 113 overall by NHL Central Scouting (North American skaters)

Boston finally bucked its trend of adding talent down the middle in the fifth round — using the Kraken’s other piece of draft capital to add Brunet, a left-shot D who hails from Quebec. 

Brunet, who went undrafted last season and is set to turn 19 on Aug. 21, is an interesting prospect, considering he was also listed as a forward on some scouting reports.

However, his most familiar spot is on the blue line, where Brunet was Rimouski’s go-to playmaker on its D corps and often responsible for pushing the puck up through the neutral zone. In total, Brunet ranked 11th overall among QMJHL defensemen in scoring last season.

Of course, while Brunet’s bread and butter revolves around his playmaking ability, he’ll need to clean up his D-zone play if he wants to stick at the next level.

Another interesting note? Brunet will start putting some offseason work with a certain B’s pivot later this summer.

“I’m traveling up to Quebec City and I’m training with Patrice Bergeron, he’s in my group,” Brunet said. “I’m training with him and it’s awesome to see him go. He’s always in the gym trying to do the best he can. That’s awesome to see that way and being close to the Bruins captain too. It’s kind of cool.”

Bruins associate director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau on Brunet: "Left-shot D-man from Rimouski. A player that we had been tracking for a little bit, he had a big jump production-wise year over year. He’s a kid that we just, we really liked what he was doing this year and his game progressed throughout the season. We think he added some additional defensive layers to his game, as well as really smooth puck-moving kid with a good frame."

ROUND 6 - Pick No. 183

Reid Dyck — G, Swift Current Broncos (WHL)
Height: 6-foot-4
Weight: 194 pounds
Stats: 23 games played - 6-12-1 record, .884 save percentage, 4.26 GAA

Pre-Draft Rankings:
Ranked No. 8 overall by NHL Central Scouting (North American goalies)
Ranked No. 76 overall by TSN/Craig Button
Ranked No. 120 by FCHockey

The Bruins might be set at the NHL ranks with their goalie tandem of Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, but Boston bolstered its depth on the farm by adding a raw goalie talent in Dyck. 

Dyck has the frame and athleticism to develop into an effective netminder at the next level, although his lackluster numbers this past season on a very bad Swift Current squad (26-35-7) shows that there’s plenty of work that needs to be done. 

"We had a really young group, we went through a lot of adversity," Dyck said. "We just missed the playoffs by a game, so it’s pretty disappointing that way but we had a great stride and organization and we’re going to try to come back next year and I had a great goalie partner Isaac Boulder who taught me a lot through the year and I’m just really looking forward to next year and I know we will be in the playoffs next year.”  

Granted, with Swayman and Ullmark entrenched up at the top, the Bruins have the luxury of letting goalie prospects like Dyck, Brandon Bussi and Philip Svedeback (fourth-round, 2021) marinate and develop on a much more relaxed timeline.

Bruins associate director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau on Dyck: "A goalie that we had had on our list and honed in. He was a backup this year, so he was hard to see at times, then ended up playing at Canada at the U18 tournament. We got some good views there, as well as some stuff we saw in Swift Current. We just think there’s an upside that our goaltending group, Bob Essensa and Mike Dunham, can really work with and hope to hone and work through."

Round 7, Pick No. 200 

Jackson Edward — D, London Knights (OHL)
Height: 6-foot-2
Weight: 192 pounds
Stats: 54 games - 0 goals, 6 assists

Pre-Draft Rankings:
Ranked No. 294 overall by FC Hockey
Ranked No. 123 overall by NHL Central Scouting (North American skaters) 

No, not that Jack Edwards.

With their final pick of the 2022 NHL Draft (they traded the No. 215 overall pick to the Kings for a 2023 seventh-rounder), the Bruins took a physical blueliner in Edward — a project, but one that could carve out a role in the pro ranks if he finds some consistency and learns to not take himself out of games. Edward's game tape is pretty much inundated with heavy checks, stingy D-zone play and a willingness to disrupt opposing rushes with his frame. 

“I think that I still need to define my game," Edward said of his game. "I think I have a lot of raw potential and I think that I need to become more defined all around. I learned how to play defense really well this year, and became a good two-way defenseman. But I think polishing my game is a lot I need to work on. I think I’m someone who came into the hockey world later, than a lot of players, so I still have that ability to polish my game over the next few seasons in London and just development strength and speed.”

Given his lack of scoring pop at the junior levels, you do wonder if Edward can offer anything beyond his sandpaper style of play. But in the seventh round, taking a flyer on a bruiser like Edward can't hurt a team that could use some more heft like the Bruins. 

Bruins associate director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau on Edward: "Guy has a little bit of size, little bit of stiffness and bite to his game. They have in London, especially with young players, they have to really earn their ice and he didn’t necessarily get a ton of ice at the end of beginning of the year, but we think his game has really rounded out and we’re expecting a big progression for him next year."