Boston Bruins Prospects Shine In Bronze Medal Win

The Boston Bruins were very well represented at the World Junior Championships tournament with players spread across multiple teams. With players such as Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, Brandon Carlo, Jakob Zboril, Anders Bjork, Ryan Donato, David Pastrnak, and Daniel Vladar playing in the tournament spread across the Swedish, Czech, and American national teams, it’s clear that the future of the Boston Bruins is bright.

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While no Bruins’ prospects made it to the gold medal game at the World Junior Championships, every prospect that was a part of the bronze medal game made an impact, starting with Bruins’ fifth round draft pick from 2014 Anders Bjork. The young forward scored two goals on three shots and finished the game with a +2 rating. Fellow 2014 draft class player, second round pick Ryan Donato also scored two goals on two shots and finished the game with a +2 rating. Brandon Carlo, one of the Bruins second round picks in the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, finished the game with one goal on one shot as well as an assist and a +1 rating. On the wrong side of an 8-3 final game, one of the other Bruins’ 2015 second round draft picks, Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson finished the game with one assist and two penalty minutes with a -1 rating, but considering the final score was 8-3, a -1 rating is impressive compare to some -3, -4, and even -5 ratings that some Swedish players finished the game with

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The World Junior Championships provide a platform for players to showcase their talent at the international level while also representing their own country. The pressure that rests on the shoulders of the prospects participating in the game, whether they are drafted or not, is drastic. The players that can step up and make an impact are always recognized for their respective talent, and the Bruins should be very satisfied with the effort that each of their prospects showed.

Each player had varying levels of success, but here’s a breakdown of each player’s tournament by country:

Czech Republic

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David Pastrnak fininshed the tournament with one goal and three assists for four points in four games with 19 shots on net. His efforts earned him recognition as one of the team’s top three players in the tournament.

Jakub Zboril finished the tournament with one assist in five games as well as 31 penalty minutes, which was nine more than every other player on the Czech team combined. Zboril is known as a more defensive-defenseman and he finished the tournament with a +2 rating despite his team losing 7-0 in their final game against the United States.

Daniel Vladar didn’t play a single game in the tournament, but the goaltending prospect is seen as a long-term project for the Bruins, and he could very likely play a more prominent role in the tournament next year.

Sweden

Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson scored one goal and added four assists for five points in his seven games played. The Swedish forward also recorded two penalty minutes and finished the tournament with a +2 rating. When watching Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson play, it’s hard to not see flashes Patrice Bergeron‘s style of game, and that’s good news for the Bruins. If JFK pans out to be even half of the player that Patrice Bergeron is, they will have made a very good pick in the second round of the 2015 draft.

United States

Anders Bjork finished the tournament with three goals in seven games as well as a +5 rating. Finding an NHL-caliber player in the fifth round of the NHL Entry Draft is no easy task, but Anders Bjork is showing the Bruins that he could be the real deal early on in his development.

Ryan Donato scored three goals and added an assist for four points in seven games to go along with his +4 rating and 16 shots on net. The Bruins second round pick from 2014 has shown that he has tremendous talent and is a skilled player who could compliment the Bruins in a top-six role within a few years.

Brandon Carlo impressed throughout the entire tournament defensively, and even found success on the scoreboard. With two goals and two assists for four points in seven games to go along with a +9 rating, Brandon Carlo showed all of the teams that let him slide to the second round that they may have made a mistake.

What’s next?

The Boston Bruins will likely keep each of their prospects with their junior / college teams for the foreseeable future as they attempt to develop them as completely as they can. With the Bruins needing a serious revamping on defense, players like Jakub Zboril and Brandon Carlo, as well as Team Canada-hopeful Jeremey Lauzon coming up through their system should give Bruins’ fans new hope.

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The Bruins could always use new faces on offense to try and spark some success and with so many talented forwards coming up through their system, the team should have no issue finding new players to fit top-six roles on cheaper contracts. There are always busts coming out of each draft, and the Bruins’ will certainly aim to avoid that trent with three first and three second round picks coming from just the 2015 draft alone. 2014 first round draft pick David Pastrnak has already shown that he has the ability to be a regular top-six player in the NHL, which bodes well for the rest of the players that the Bruins scouts deemed worthy of such high draft picks.

Follow Brandon Share-Cohen on Twitter @BShareCohen to discuss all things Bruins and sports