For a long time, and really for the time that Don Sweeney has been general manager of the Boston Bruins, their prospects have ranked near or at the bottom of the NHL. Now, there are a number of factors that go into that, from trading away first-round picks to, well, just not making great picks.
Nick Iacoban from Watch The Stats ranked the NHL prospect pools from 1-32. In his winter rankings, the Bruins were 32nd, a place they generally find themselves at on most rankings. However, after a good 2025 NHL Entry Draft in Los Angeles back in June, the Black and Gold have vaulted up his rankings going into the 2025-26 regular season.
Boston Bruins vault up one analyst's prospect rankings ahead of 2025-26 season
After a very disappointing 2024-25 season, the Bruins got the lowest pick they could possibly get, the seventh overall pick, in the NHL Draft Lottery back in May. When you're drafting that far down, well, you need a lot of luck to have players fall to you that you love. That was the case for Sweeney.
Once considered the first overall pick, Boston College foward James Hagens fell to the Bruins at No. 7 two months ago, which was a massive win. You could make a serious claim that the Black and Gold were the winners of the first round of the Draft that night.
Hagens is a center and, despite wanting to go pro this year, he is returning to BC for another season, where he'll likely sign following the upcoming season. Maybe. But Boston drafting him raised their ranking in Iacoban's eyes, and it got a little higher with another pick.
In the second round, Boston was able to draft William Moore, another forward, with the 51st overall pick. He'll be joining Hagens at Boston College this season for an Eagles team that is loaded for a deep NCAA Tournament run next March.
Moore's selection moved the Bruins ranking a little higher to 18th and obviously they are Boston's top-ranked prospects, as they should be. The future is bright, but now the question is, which, if any, prospects will make an impact this season?