The belief was that the Boston Bruins made a big mistake by only going through a mini-retool last season. Don Sweeney reloaded with a bunch of bottom-six forwards and didn't do anything to add to the future at the trade deadline, but the team rewarded him by totaling 100 points and advancing to the playoffs after a one-year hiatus.
It was a disappointing, quick end to the postseason run with the Game 6 loss to the Buffalo Sabres, sending fans into an even bigger spiral after they gave away a year of rebuilding the team a little more just for an early first-round exit. However, Daily Faceoff's Steven Ellis believes that despite not doing anything to upgrade the pool last season, the Bruins' pipeline is still better than it was.
Ellis ranked the Bruins' prospect pool 21st last season, labeling James Hagens, Fraser Minten, and Fabian Lysell as its best prospects. It was a big jump after being near the bottom of the league for a long time, as they had a sustained run of regular season success, but they jumped to 17th in this year's rankings on the strength of Hagens, Dean Letourneau, and Will Zellers.
"Letourneau had an absolutely mega season at Boston College, putting himself back on the map after an ugly freshman campaign. Will Zellers proved that his USHL scoring dominance could translate to the NCAA, and Cooper Simpson is seemingly following in the same development path after obliterating opponents last year. Not every prospect is going to be a star – you’ve got to find the value from all over the draft. So given the lack of high-end picks the Bruins have had, there’s actually a lot to like."Steven Ellis
It isn't overly surprising that pundits are starting to see the Bruins' prospects in a positive light. Letourneau was one of the NCAA's biggest breakout stars last season after a poor freshman year, and Zellers took the University of North Dakota by storm before starring for his country at the World Juniors. Cooper Simpson's season in the USHL also looked a lot like Zellers' the year before, and the hope is he can carry on the trajectory with Zellers at UND this season.
The Bruins have plenty of contracts expiring after this season. It'll be interesting to see where they'll stand at the trade deadline and whether Sweeney will target one more fire sale at that time, like in 2025, to improve the pipeline even more. The youth are soon coming for the Bruins, and Daily Faceoff believes the franchise is in good hands.
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