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 sixth year that will be re-drafted will be the 2010 NHL Draft.
1st Round:
Actual Pick: Tyler Seguin – Center
Re-Draft Pick: Vladimir Tarasenko* – Right Wing
Honorable Mentions: Ryan Johansen, Jeff Skinner
Puck Prose
The 2010 NHL draft produced an incredible amount of talent. While Tyler Seguin seems like arguably the best player coming out of that draft, the knowledge of him being somewhat of a party-animal (among other reasons) led to his trade from the Bruins. While Tyler Seguin is still the logical pick, it would also make sense to assume that Tyler Seguin’s trade was inevitable, and use the pick on a natural right winger with tremendous speed and skill Vladimir Tarasenko. The Russian winger has the potential to score upwards of 35 goals for years to come, and could even push the 40-50 mark if his progress continues at this rate.
*Although Tyler Seguin should be the re-draft pick, the management didn’t give him a chance and his name will always be a touchy topic for Bruins fans. It might be best to avoid the situation altogether.
2nd Round:
Actual Pick: Jared Knight – Right Wing & Ryan Spooner – Center
Re-Draft Pick: Justin Faulk – Defense & Ryan Spooner – Center
Honorable Mentions: Tyler Toffoli, Calle Jarnkrok
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The Boston Bruins could have picked a legitimate offensive threat on defense with Justin Faulk, as opposed to Jared Knight who has yet to play a game in the NHL. Knight was traded last season to the Minnesota Wild where he finished out the year in the AHL. His AHL statistics aren’t significant enough when his early second round draft status is considered.
The Bruins also drafted Ryan Spooner in the 2010 draft in the second round. While it took Spooner some time to earn the trust of coach Claude Julien, he was finally rewarded in the 2014-15 season in which he produced very impressive statistics in his short stint to close out the season. Spooner could prove the Bruins right by taking him in the second round, and that’s a significant improvement on the previous few years worth of drafts in which nobody played any significant minutes at the NHL level.
3rd Round:
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Actual Pick: None
Re-Draft Pick: None
Honorable Mentions: None
4th Round:
Actual Pick: Craig Cunningham – Right Wing
Re-Draft Pick: John Klingberg – Defense
Honorable Mentions: Teemu Pulkkinen
The Boston Bruins selected the ever-versatile Craig Cunningham in the 4th round of the 2010 draft. The Bruins also lost Craig Cunningham to waivers during the 2014-15 season. One of the many disasters of the Peter Chiarelli era in Boston, Cunningham was quickly becoming a fan-favorite to many due to his perseverance on the ice as well as his ability to play both center and the wing positions. While Cunningham would have been a solid fourth line player for the Bruins for years, John Klingberg could have been a very naturally talented defenseman who possesses a valuable two-way game. In his first season in the league, Klingberg posted 11 goals and 29 assists for 40 points in only 65 games. His potential to be a superstar offensive-defenseman is there, and the Bruins would have been wise to select him rather than Cunningham.
5th Round:
Actual Pick: Justin Florek – Left Wing
Re-Draft Pick: Brendan Gallagher – Right Wing
Honorable Mentions: Petr Mrazek
Love him or hate him, Brendan Gallagher is an effective player who gives 100% effort every single shift he plays. Gallagher is essentially a less-effective version of Brad Marchand in terms of scoring, and agitation, although his two-way game isn’t anywhere near as effective as Marchand’s. Brendan Gallagher was also the best player coming out of the 5th round in the draft after Justin Florek was picked. This re-draft pick will certainly have readers feeling sick, but it’s impossible to deny that Brendan Gallagher is the type of player that most people hate, but would love to have on their team.
6th Round:
Actual Pick: Zane McIntyre – Goalie
Re-Draft Pick: Mark Stone – Right Wing
Honorable Mentions: None
Mark Stone had an incredible rookie season in 2014-15 and is going to look to build on that success moving forward. While Zane McIntyre has a lot of promise to be a superb goaltender one day, the safe bet coming out of the 6th round of the 2010 draft is clearly Mark Stone . Coming off of an 80 game season, Stone posted 26 goals and 38 assists for 64 points. Not too shabby for a rookie. Mark Stone could have eventually grown into a 1st-2nd line right wing for the Bruins, and with Vladimir Tarasenko being drafted in the first round, and Brendan Gallagher in the second, the Bruins could have a serious 1-2-3 punch moving forward for many years.
7th Round:
Actual Pick: Maxime Chudinov – Defense & Zach Trotman – Defense
Re-Draft Pick: Frederik Andersen – Goalie & Zach Trotman – Defense
Honorable Mentions: None
Maxime Chudinov has yet to play a game in the NHL, while Frederik Andersen has been to the playoffs twice on the Anaheim Ducks in the last two seasons. An incredible #1 goaltender, Andersen has proved to be more than worth his 7th round billing. The second pick the Bruins made in the 2010 draft was for defenseman Zach Trotman, and it was the right pick. Being drafted with the final pick of the 2010 draft, Zach Trotman showed at the end of last season that he can play very meaningful minutes after being paired on the top line with Zdeno Chara. Trotman was paired up against some of the toughest talent in the league and didn’t seem to waiver once. His offensive game isn’t entirely relevant, although time on the powerplay was not wasted by Trotman who was a contributor in all situations.
If you have any differing opinions, or if you agree, let me know in the comments below!
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