You know it. I know it. NBC Sports for sure knows it, as they never fail to bring it up. The rest of the NHL knows it and laughs at it every chance they get.
“I’ve looked back at that a lot, obviously,” Neely said Tuesday. “I think the timing of when we hired Don [Sweeney] and then the draft was taking place, [it] would have been good, I think, to have a little bit more time between the hiring and the draft. Not to say that Don wasn’t involved in the amateur meetings, but he wasn’t involved at the time, most of the time thinking that he was making the picks. “I think Don did everything he needed to do leading up to that draft to get three first-round picks. I thought the moves that he made were really good and poised to set us up for the future,” Neely admitted. “The guys put the list together. I think maybe during that time, we should have taken some time out. As everybody knows, we tried to move up in the draft. It didn’t work. We probably should have taken the time out and really just digested that list a little bit more.”
Just how bad did the Bruins miss on their 2015 first-round picks?
As most remember, the Bruins held the No. 13, 14, and 15 picks in the draft. They proceeded to draft Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zach Senyshyn with the three picks, which were seen as reaches at the time. At the time of the draft, Bleacher Report’s Jonathan Willis gave the Bruins a C-, D+ and F for the three picks, and CBS Sports’ Chris Peters followed in a similar fashion with C+, C- and D ratings.
It was a pretty accurate foreshadowing for things to come. While DeBrusk has had a decent career in four years with the Bruins – 134 points in 244 games – Zboril and Senyshyn have been more AHL players, with Zboril playing in 44 games with Boston and Senyshyn just a lowly 14.
Mar 5, 2020; Ottawa, Ontario, CAN; New York Islanders center Matthew Barzal 913) skates with the puck in the third period against the Ottawa Senators at the Canadian Tire Centre. Mandatory Credit: Marc DesRosiers-USA TODAY Sports /
Who did the Bruins pass on?
What’s even worse is who the Bruins passed on. The next three straight picks that followed the Bruins’ picks were Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Thomas Chabot. Later in the first round, players like Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Boeser, Travis Konecny, Jack Roslovic, and Anthony Beauvillier were selected.
The list goes on and on and on, with Sebastian Aho taken in the second round, Anthony Cirelli in the third, and Conor Garland in the fifth. Sure, those players were passed by other teams as well, but the Bruins chose instead to draft players like Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, Jeremy Lauzon, and Dan Vladar.
Sure, the Bruins had a positive pick with Brandon Carlo (No. 37 pick). But it’s hard to view an entire draft as a success when two out of your three first-round picks have been swing-and-misses and your other’s future with the team in serious trouble.
“Obviously, hindsight is everything we’d all love to have. But moving forward and thinking about making different decisions or better decisions, I guess,” Neely said. “You can always do that in every draft though, no matter where you pick and how many picks you have.”
More. Why July is Going to Busy For Boston. light
There’s nothing that can be done now. It’s a draft that Neely, Sweeney, and pretty much every Bruins fan would like to forget. But it’s just nice to know that the Bruins recognize how big of a mess-up that draft was.
