Boston Bruins: Top 5 prospects to pay close attention to
The Boston Bruins have had sustained success for over a decade now. It’s brought upon three trips to the Stanley Cup Final and one Cup in total. At this time, they are blessed with the talents of David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and captain Patrice Bergeron leading the charge. However, they have not been able to build the strongest of prospect pools. Whether they missed on their first-round draft picks (we’re looking at you, 2015) or simply traded away their top picks, it is clear that most teams are ahead of them on that front.
Yet, even with this being so, they do have some prospects who are still quite exciting to pay attention to. In fact, some should be members of the NHL club this very season. As for the others, they would benefit from a little more in their respective leagues. In a few years, these five could all be important pieces of the Bruins if all goes according to plan.
Before beginning, it’s important to note that they are not in any specific order. Alas, let’s get started.
Boston Bruins: Jeremy Swayman G
Although Jeremy Swayman’s a lock to make the team this season, he still has only 10 regular-season games under his belt. As a result of this, one still can classify him as a prospect. With the B’s this season, he sported a 7-3-0 record to go along with a 1.50 GAA and .945 SV%. His outstanding play was enough for him to win the backup job from recently departed Jaroslav Halak. Yet, it will be intriguing to see what the 22-year-old goaltender does in his first full season with Boston.
The Bruins made a seemingly smart move signing Linus Ullmark this off-season, as Swayman will have less pressure to be “the guy” in the net. Rather, the pair should be able to formulate a strong 1A-1B tandem. This is assuming the Bruins don’t re-sign the injured Tuukka Rask later down the road. Alas, Swayman’s importance to this team is immensely high, as he is a huge part of the future of the club.
What’s promising about Swayman is that he also was dominant in both college and with the Providence Bruins. He seems to have mastered each league and already did for a short while with Boston. For a team who once was worried about how they would fair without Rask, they surely have plenty of reason for optimism with Swayman. It will be awesome to see what he does next.