Now that the ice chips have settled and the Bruins hold the seventh overall pick, it’s a lot more cut-and-dried as to which players they will be looking at next month in the first round of the 2025 NHL Draft.
There are high hopes, of course, as players like Matvei Michkov, Clayton Keller, Quinn Hughes and Dylan Cozens have been taken at that spot over the last 10 years.
They won’t get the absolute top of the draft “can’t miss” prospects taken with the first few selections, and they probably won’t either of the top couple of young centers, either. It will be surprising if Boston College product James Hagens drops to them even after a good-but-not-great freshman season with the Eagles, after some had penciled him in as a possible No. 1 overall pick a couple of years ago.
This isn’t a loaded draft class with many teenagers expected to be able to jump right into the NHL fray next season, however, so there are very real questions as to whether Boston’s eventual selection will have any impact on next year’s team. Then again, it’s so often hard to tell those things until that player gets into development camps and enters the organization’s player development pipeline to determine their individual goals and expectations.
“You never know. The surprises are what they are each year. I think you find a player that comes out of the gate and looks like he can play right away, whether that's acclimation, I mean, some of these guys have been injured for a period of time,” said Don Sweeney, earlier this week when the draft lottery took place on Monday night. “Are they mature enough and physically ready to play? That's to be determined. The league gets harder as it goes along and you see a lot of these [teenage] players do get injured when they start out early.
“But they're all good players in the upper echelon of the `draft…you’ve got some guys that have played pro over in Sweden, so it's a chance to impact your club, whether that's next year, that remains to be seen.”
Here’s a look at some of the players that the Bruins will be eying with that seventh overall spot next month:
• Roger McQueen – The 6-foot-5, 192-pound McQueen is considered one of the top offensive prospects in the draft and might have been a top-5 lock if an injury hadn’t limited him to just 17 games for the Brandon Wheat Kings this season. He’s got the size, the skills and Sweeney was interested enough to go see him play in the WHL in person earlier this season when it became apparent the Bruins were going to have a shot at him. The injury thing is a bit of a red flag, of course, and he hasn’t exactly dominated offensively in terms of not even being a point-per-game player at the WHL level through three seasons. His playoff performances have been very strong, though, which is a plus. But this would be the biggest risk pick at the spot Boston is selecting at this point, though some draft expert-types also say he has the highest ceiling of all the centers.
Roger McQueen is back in action for the Brandon Wheat Kings, and while there's still some injury rust left to shake off, he's flashing the same toolsy upside that has scouts excited. When he gets going he's a real handful
— Derek Neumeier (@Derek_N_NHL) March 18, 2025
Here are some clips from his two most recent games (#13): pic.twitter.com/zXu6gks4K8
• Caleb Desnoyers – A player that probably isn’t going to be available when the Bruins make their selection based on his rankings, the 6-foot-1, 178-pound center has drawn comparisons to Jonathan Toews and would be the kind of two-way pivot that would be exactly what the Bruins are looking for. The Quebec native has dominated at Moncton and was a beast in the junior playoffs this spring and has zero question marks aside from perhaps people who believe the QMJHL isn’t traditionally as strong as the OHL. If there’s a wish list player to be available when the Bruins pick it would be Desnoyers, but most mock drafts have him getting selected in the top-5 picks.
Absolute ELITE celly with the ref in stands by #NHL2025Draft product Caleb Desnoyers pic.twitter.com/B92XPFN9zI
— Robert Chalmers (@IvanIvanlvan) March 30, 2025
• James Hagens – The 5-foot-10, 177-pound center didn’t light it up at Boston College as a young freshman, but he did put on a show for Team USA in leading them to a gold medal at the World Juniors. Still, he managed to be a point-per-game player as a true freshman in Hockey East, which is tremendously difficult to do and doubly challenging on a team that had so many accomplished offensive players. The speed and offensive mindset are definitely present with this player. The New York native checks a ton of boxes for the Bruins, but again probably won’t be there after there was a lot of buzz, he could be the No. 1 overall guy around this time last year.
Been watching a lot of James Hagens film recently.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) May 8, 2025
He’s a talented center who thrives as a playmaker and generally makes everyone around him better.
Seems to be a pass first guy & has great vision.
Would y’all like to see him in a #TusksUp sweater?pic.twitter.com/XXY2ZKIXjM
• Anton Frondell – The Swedish center has decent size (6-foot, 196-pounds) and a reputation as a good two-way player with polished skills and is slated to play for Djurgardens in the Swedish Elite League this coming season. His past experience in the second pro division in Sweden and his reputation as a smooth-skating, high compete center sounds attractive, though there are some that believe he’ll slide over to the wing at the NHL level. Perhaps it's because of the way he shoots the puck, which is outstanding. It doesn’t feel like he’s quite as dynamic as some of the other prospects, but he could be a very solid pro and there’s a good network of Swedish players in Boston to help his development as well.
In case you didn’t know what Anton Frondell is all about…
— BlueChipProspect (@BCprospect) March 21, 2025
Here’s a quick montage of his strength(s). 🔥🏒#NHLDraft #HockeyProspects #AntonFrondell #NHL pic.twitter.com/8e7QqTZN1Z
• Porter Martone – A 6-foot-3, 208-pound winger that has drawn comparisons to NHL power forward-types like Brady Tkachuk, Martone is the kind of player that the Bruins have traditionally gravitated toward. But also the kind of player the B’s have also been missing in recent vintages while trying to uncover with retread acquisitions like Max Jones, Riley Tufte and Nick Ritchie just to name a few over the years. The best way to find one of those players is to draft them as they did with Milan Lucic, though, and Martone has some impressive credentials like 37 goals and 98 points last season.
Another potential #TusksUp draft prospect is RW Porter Martone.
— Cole Bagley (@BagleyKSLsports) May 8, 2025
He is a one-man wrecking ball in the offensive zone with evasive puck handling skills, elite playmaking abilities, and versatile scoring.pic.twitter.com/N34VEYtDBS
• Jake O’Brien – A playmaking center that had 66 assists for Brantford this season, as he really exploded in the second half of the season, the 6-foot-2, 172-pound pivot is an elite playmaker and was a dominant force in the Memorial Cup playoffs. He’s still only 17 years old, which also should add to the value as he’s been a dominant player against older competition to this point. 50 of his 98 points were on the power play, which should add another level of attractiveness for a Bruins team that could use that kind of playmaking.
Been doing OT in the scouting department and one of the players I’ve fallen in love with is Jake O’Brien. Kids a dog. Would love to see him with the Isles but honestly would be surprised to see him drop that far at this point.
— Pizza Sports Guy (@PizzaSportsGuy) April 3, 2025
pic.twitter.com/kSMGTVZUZH
Other notables: Radim Mrtka, Victor Eklund, Jack Nesbitt, Brady Martin.