If there is one thing consistent about Don Sweeney and Cam Neely since they started running the Boston Bruins' front office, it is that they value the two-way, sandpaper-type players over anything else. It was almost surprising when they actually took James Hagens seventh overall last season as a player who has quite a bit of flash in his game. Still, The Athletic's Scott Wheeler doesn't believe that will continue in his final mock draft before the 2026 NHL Draft.
Wheeler has been all over the Bruins, taking Jack Hextall with the 23rd pick in the first round. He mocked Hextall to Boston in one of his previous mock drafts, and still has the USHL forward going there in his final list published on Tuesday afternoon. When reading the scouting report he gave Hextall back in May, there is no problem telling why Wheeler thinks Sweeney values him.
""Hextall isn’t a sexy, flashy, offensive first-rounder, but he’s well-liked and well-respected around the USHL and NHL, and widely viewed as a first-rounder for a lot of the same reasons Command is: a heavy stick, pro habits and details, position, etc. He’s got some big backers, and I could see the Bruins being interested in him as a potential future middle-six center behind James Hagens. I think he goes in the 20s or early 30s somewhere.""Scott Wheeler
Hextall would be a bit of an underwhelming selection given some of the offensively skilled players available around their range, especially considering the scouting report that Wheeler gave. If he is more of a middle-six, two-way center behind Hagens, he sounds similar to what Boston already has in Fraser Minten. In five years, the Bruins could have many of the same problems as they do now: a bunch of two-way forwards with Hagens and an older Pastrnak, trying to carry the offense on the top line.
Possible defense options for Bruins
If the Bruins don't go Hextall, Wheeler does mention a couple of defensemen that they could target to increase that depth. If they aren't looking for more of a high-ceiling scorer, a defenseman like Tommy Bleyl or William Hakansson seems like a much better gamble than another defensive forward. The Bruins haven't drafted a defenseman in the first round since Urho Vaakanainen in 2017, who was the third of a run of three-straight years after taking Charlie McAvoy in 2016 and Jakub Zboril in 2015.
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