At last Friday's trade deadline, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney accumulated draft picks for future drafts. Just what those picks could end up being turned into remains to be seen, as who knows if some of them aren’t moved and Sweeney is still around, who knows if he will even have any success making those picks given his track record.
Three years ago, at the 2022 Entry Draft in Montreal, Sweeney had already seen some fruits of his labor with Matthew Poitras, picked in the second round, making an impact in Boston and having a bright future. Right now he’s with the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL), but he has proven his spot in Boston will be coming again soon.
Also in that draft, Boston selected forward Dans Locmelis in the fourth round, 119th overall, and the center from Latvia has been improving each year since being drafted. He drew some high praise from his coach, Greg Carvel, at UMass.
Greg Carvel gives Bruins prospect Dans Locmeils high praise
Locmelis is having a breakout year for the Minutemen in his sophomore year. In 37 games, he has seven goals and 22 assists, an improvement from last year that saw him score seven goals and dishing out seven assists. It’s not surprising to see a player's number make a jump from their freshman to sophomore year in college.
"Dans (is) actually one of our most accurate shooters, he just does it all,’’ said Carvel. ‘If he was two inches taller and 20 pounds heavier, he'd probably be the best player in the league. That's how strongly I feel about him."
The 6-foot-0, 172-pound Locmelis is rounding his game into form. In Wednesday night’s 2-1 win over Vermont in the first round of the Hockey East Tournament, he won 11 of his 17 face-offs, the best numbers for UMass centers in the game.
Prospects in general have been a big hit or miss (mostly a miss) for the Bruins, but if there is one position where they need development, it’s up the middle. Locmelis and UMass will head to Boston University on Saturday afternoon at 4:30 for a quarterfinal round matchup with the Terriers. If the Minutemen are going to pull an upset, they will need Locmeils to do it all. If there is anything to take away from Carvel’s assessment, it’s that the Black and Gold might have a diamond in the rough with Locmelis.