Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The 2015-16 NHL season is almost underway and with the Bruins coming off of a very busy draft a few months ago, it seems appropriate to re-draft previous years for the Bruins based on present-day knowledge. The premise is simple; the draft falls the exact same way it did within any given year, and the Bruins would draft the best available player on the board, regardless of positional need at the time. Please read with suspended belief as the draft positions clearly would have fallen differently if the players were taken out of order; this is just a fun little exercise.
The first year that will be re-drafted will be the 2006 NHL Draft.
1st Round:
Actual Pick: Phil Kessel – Right Wing
Re-Draft Pick: Phil Kessel – Right Wing
Honorable Mentions: Claude Giroux, Nick Foligno
The Boston Bruins picked one of the leagues best scorers in 2006 with the selection of Phil Kessel. Regardless of how everything turned out after the draft, Kessel has continuously been one of the top players in the league and should continue that trend with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin at center. Claude Giroux is another very solid player but it’s hard to argue with the Bruins selection of Phil Kessel, especially with their recent struggle with finding the back of the net.
2nd Round:
Actual Pick: Yuri Alexandrov– Defense & Milan Lucic – Left Wing
Re-Draft Pick: Jeff Petry – Defense & Milan Lucic – Left Wing
Honorable mentions: Nikolay Kulemin, Jhonas Enroth, Artem Anisimov
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The Bruins selected defenseman Yuri Alexandrov and Left Winger Milan Lucic in the 2006 NHL draft. The pick of Lucic was the right choice at the time, having been a fixture on the left wing on Boston’s top line for years. Widely considered one of the best power forwards in the entire league, Lucic was a big part of helping Boston win the Stanley Cup in 2011. Jeff Petry would have been a significant increase on Yuri Alexandrov. Petry is currently a member of the Montreal Canadiens, but he has been one of the more underrated top-4 defensemen in the NHL since the 2006 draft.
3rd Round:
Actual Pick: Brad Marchand – Left Wing
Re-Draft Pick: Brad Marchand – Left Wing
Honorable Mention: None
The Bruins picked Brad Marchand in the 3rd round of the 2006 NHL draft and that was clearly one of the best picks of the entire draft. Brad Marchand has been a very well-rounded left winger for the Boston Bruins and is one of the most consistent scorers in the entire league. Brad Marchand should be a fixture on the wing in Boston for years to come barring any major trade. The Bruins were able to build up their roster very well in this years draft with their 2nd round pick in Milan Lucic and their third round pick of Brad Marchand.
4th Round:
Puck Prose
Actual Pick: None
Re-Draft Pick: None
5th Round:
Actual Pick: Andrew Bodnarchuk – Defense
Re-Draft Pick: Andrew Bodnarchuk – Defense
Honorable Mentions: None
The entire 5th round of the 2006 NHL draft was disappointing. No need to re-draft anyone here as there really isn’t anyone that could have been better or worse than Bodnarchuk available within the 5th round.
6th Round:
Actual Pick: Levi Nelson – Center
Re-Draft Pick: Matthieu Perreault– Center
Honorable Mentions: Viktor Stalberg, Andrew MacDonald
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Matthieu Perreault was an elite player at the Major-Junior level. Since playing in the NHL, Perreault has put up at least 16 goals in each season that he played in at least 60 games. Levi Nelson never became anything of note in the NHL and Perreault is still playing well in the NHL, as a current member of the Winnipeg Jets. The intangibles for a player like Matthieu Perreault are the primary points of interest. Players like Perreault are more than capable of playing solid minutes in the middle-6 due to their strong compete level.
7th Round:
Actual Pick: None
Re-Draft Pick: None
If you have any differing opinions, or if you agree, let me know in the comments below!
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