Boston Bruins: NHL Draft First Round Thoughts, Reactions

The first round is in the books, taking place in Buffalo, NY. Rumors have been swirling all over the place for quite some time, with the Boston Bruins appearing in them quite a bit. To the surprise of many NHL fans, the top 3 went Auston Matthews, Patrik Laine and Pierre-Luc Dubois, not Jesse Puljujärvi. The likely possibility of Connor McDavid and Jesse Puljujärvi together is extremely exciting and immediately drew comparisons to Wayne Gretzky and Jari Kurri with the Edmonton Oilers back in the day. The first round of the 2016 draft was an action-packed one.

Passing up on Jakob Chychrun, taking the local kid, Charlie McAvoy

Jakob Chychrun, to the surprise of many dropped in the draft. He was available at #14 and the Bruins passed up on him. The Arizona Coyotes eventually traded up from #20 with the Detroit Red Wings and took Chychrun at #16, while moving Pavel Datsyuk’s contract as a part of the deal.

Passing up on Chychrun was not a bad move, he’s a left-handed defenseman who has a lot of talent and potential, but the right side of the blue line is a bigger need for the Black and Gold. Not born in Massachusetts, but not too far away in Long Beach, NY, McAvoy, 18, had a very solid freshman season at Boston University as the youngest player in all of college hockey. He tallied 3 goals and 22 assists, good for 25 points in 37 games and has been compared to Drew Doughty. Ironically enough, Doughty is his favorite defenseman and they share similar frames. This comparison comes with good reason and seeing him play multiple times at BU myself, it’s not a bad one. His nastiness, quality puck moving and skating abilities and overall skill will be welcome in the Bruins prospect system.

The Bruins could really use a guy who can play like Drew Doughty; hopefully McAvoy can reach that potential someday.

The ability to monitor McAvoy closely likely stood out and the Bruins love college kids. Some college players they have drafted in the past include Danton Heinen (Denver), McAvoy’s BU defensive partner, Matt Grzelcyk, Rob O’Gara (Yale) and Ryan Fitzgerald (Boston College). His future teammate at BU and the Nashville Predators #17 overall pick, Dante Fabbro, is another right-handed guy the B’s could have taken. Calgary Hitmen defenseman, Jake Bean would have been a nice left-handed fit if he dropped one more spot. He went 13th overall to the Carolina Hurricanes. Nonetheless, the Bruins got a very solid prospect that fits just what they need.

Who is Trent Frederic?

The Bruins went off the board and took 18-year-old center, Trent Frederic with the 29th overall pick. No one expected this, not even the kid himself. It’s a strange choice when you still have guys like Alex DeBrincat, Nathan Bastian, and Pascal Laberge still on the board. The right wing position was a big need and it wasn’t addressed in the first round.

The scouting staff must have seen things in Frederic that we haven’t and hopefully he isn’t a first round bust. He a left-handed center with good size (6’2″, 203 lbs.), who is committed to the University of Wisconsin, so he will develop in the NCAA. Spending this past year as a part of the USNTDP, he notched 4 goals and 14 points in 23 games with the U18 development program, as well 20 goals and 40 points in 61 games with the U.S. National U18 Team. Frederic will be a project and could evolve into something special during his time in Wisconsin.

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Trades, Trades, Trades, but none with the Bruins

There were plenty of moves, but to the surprise of many, none involved the Bruins. Apparently teams were asking Don Sweeney for both first-round picks and coveted Czech prospect, David Pastrnak in trade talks. For who and what combination of these assets is unsure, but trading such assets is something to think deeply about and not rush.

It sounded like for a while that St. Louis Blues defenseman, Kevin Shattenkirk, was a future Bruin, but nothing got done. According to ESPN’s, Pierre LeBrun Blues GM, Doug Armstrong, said that none of the offers he received for Shattenkirk were even close to what he would consider accepting, according to ESPN.com’s, Pierre LeBrun. It’s a disappointing sight to see another day pass without that big-time defenseman, or defensemen that the Bruins so sorely need.

On the drafting front, not a terrible night for the Bruins, but it could have been better. But not seeing a defensive-oriented trade is something to definitely be worried and even angry about. This Bruins team isn’t going anywhere unless they shore up the back end. Defense wins championships in many cases and the Bruins don’t have anywhere close to championship caliber defense at this time. Let’s hope this changes and the Bruins faithful can watch playoff hockey again next year.