The Boston Bruins had some disappointing selections in the top half of the 2017 NHL Entry Draft, but one fourth round pick saved the event. If the fourth-round pick can turn things around after a disappointing 2024-25 season, this draft will be a success on his selection alone.
18th Overall - Urho Vaakanainen
If the Bruins had played the long game with Urho Vaakanainen, they might've gotten some value out of their 18th overall pick. However, he was unable to find a home in Boston after four seasons in the organization. He played just 31 games in Boston, while spending most of his time in Providence.
The Bruins traded him to the Anaheim Ducks in 2021-22 at the trade deadline, receiving Hampus Lindholm in return. Vaakanainen played the rest of that season in the NHL, and despite an injury that kept him out for most of the 2022-23 season, has been an NHL regular ever since. He will return to the New York Rangers in 2025-26 after 46 games with them this past season.
Vaakanainen's breakout came this past season, recording 15 points in 46 games with New York.
53rd Overall - Jack Studnicka
Jack Studnicka had some moments with the Bruins where he semed like he could be a regular, but like Vaakanainen, wasn't able to put it together consistently. He split parts of three seasons between Boston and Providence, before the front office traded him to the Vancouver Canucks in 2022-23. After bouncing around in 2023-24, Studnicka spent all of 2024-25 with Marco Sturm and the Ontario Reign.
111th Overall - Jeremy Swayman
The pick that saved the 2017 draft for the Bruins and tipped the scales towards this being a success. Take away the poor performance in 2024-25, and you get a franchise goaltender who was taken with the 111th overall pick. If the Bruins can get the most out of Swayman for the next seven seasons and beyond, this pick could be seen as one of the top selections of the Don Sweeney era.
173rd Overall - Cedric Pare
Cedric Pare was never given a chance in the Bruins organization, as his development struck a lull in the QMJHL after Boston selected him. He had two poor seasons, before finally breakout out in his final year in the Q. Pare spent the next five seasons bouncing around the AHL and ECHL, and played this past season with the Toronto Maple Leafs' AHL affiliate, recording 26 points in 59 games.
Pare garnered league-wide recognition for the wrong reasons this past season, as he was the Leaf who injured Patrik Laine in a heated preseason moment.
195th Overall - Victor Berglund
Victor Berglund had all the makings of a defenseman who would never make his way to North America, but he actually spend parts of three seasons in the Bruins' organization. His only full campaign was 2021-22 when he played 46 games for Providence, recording 18 points in 46 games.
Berglund returned to Sweden after starting the 2022-23 season with Providence, and hasn't returned.
204th Overall - Daniel Bukac
Daniel Bukac spent three seasons in the CHL before signing with a pro team in Czechia for the 2019-20 season. Bukac appeared in six games in the top league since that season, spending most of his professional career in the second league with the B teams. The Bruins took a swing on the massive 6'6" defenseman, and it didn't work out.