Sweeney found a good young defenseman in Charlie McAvoy.
Entering the 2016 Entry Draft, Sweeney was looking to add a defenseman in the first round that could be a future star with the Bruins.
Mission accomplished.
With the 14th pick, Sweeney selected Charlie McAvoy and the returns have been very good. In what looks like the heir apparent to captain Zdeno Chara, McAvoy has worked his way to the Bruins top defensive pairing.
He just completed his third full season in the NHL. He has 19 goals in 184 regular-season games, but his 73 assists, which included a career-high 27 in a shortened 2019-20 season, having Bruins fans thinking the Boston University product could be a future quarterback on the loaded power play.
At 6-foot-0 and 208 pounds, McAvoy has become a physical player that plays well over 20 minutes a night and has very good puck-moving ability for a defenseman. He was recently on the NHL Network list of top 25 for ranking the league’s top defensemen. No question he belongs in that conversation.
With the Bruins going through a changing of the guard on defense with Torey Krug leaving in free agency for the St. Louis Blues and Chara still unsure if he wants to return to the Bruins for a 15th season, one thing is for sure, McAvoy is arguably the Bruins best D-man.
Sweeney has had some draft picks in recent years that will end up on the list in the not too distant future. Studnicka is on the verge of becoming an everyday player with Boston, while DeBrusk and McAvoy have had a hand in the Bruins’ success in the last few years. These three picks have been the most impactful picks under Sweeney to date.