Boston Bruins: Potential 2018 First-Round Draft Selections
28th Overall- Benoit-Olivier Giroulx
In his 2018 NHL Draft player rankings, Bob McKenzie ranks Benoit-Olivier Giroulx the 28th best player. Giroulx is a French-Canadian center who currently plays for the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL. Benoit-Olivier’s father, Benoit Giroulx, also played in the CHL as well as some of the European hockey leagues and now coaches the Syracuse Crunch, AHL affiliate of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
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This season, Giroulx has 35 points through 48 games played, with 19 of those being goals. Giroulx is 6’1’’ and weighs 190 lbs., which puts him at about the same size as Boston Bruins’ center Patrice Bergeron. The parallels with Bergeron don’t stop there. In 2017, ISS Hockey called Giroulx a “highly skilled, intelligent and determined 2-way forward”.
If selected by Boston, Giroulx would find himself in a bit of a log jam at the center position in the Bruins organization. Obviously, he would be behind Bergeron and David Krejci, but also guys like Danton Heinen and Ryan Spooner. Of the 13 forwards on the Boston Bruins’ roster, 9 of them are listed as natural centers, even if they aren’t currently playing there.
Benoit-Olivier Giroulx is a talented hockey player who will most likely be selected in the first round of the 2018 NHL Draft. However, I don’t see the Bruins selecting him because of the depth the organization has at the center position.