One thing that is clear during Don Sweeney's tenure as general manager of the Boston Bruins, NHL Entry Drafts are not a strong point for him or his scouts. To be fair, there have been a lot of drafts where their first-round pick has been shipped away at the trade deadline to help bolster the roster for a deep run in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
It wasn't always working, and the Bruins ended up suffering the consequences of dealing away a first-round pick by ending up which has turned into a depleted prospect pool at times. Don't get me wrong, Sweeney has found some gems in the mid rounds of drafts, but there have been some first-round misses that have been rather eye-opening.
By now, you know about the 2015 Entry Draft swing and miss in the first round, but the first round in 2016 sometimes gets lost under the radar. Things could be different if things had gone a different way.
What if the Bruins hadn't passed on the obvious pick in 2016?
When it came to the late first round of the 2016 Entry Draft, Sweeney selected forward Trent Frederic, someone who wasn't on a lot of radars that early in the draft. One player who was taken early in the second round that was available and the Bruins passed on was center Jordan Kyrou. If things had gone differently and the Bruins had gotten Kyrou, things would be a lot different today.
Frederic had his moments with the Black and Gold before being traded to the Edmonton Oilers at the trade deadline in March. He was in the doghouse with former coach Bruce Cassidy, but thrived under Jim Montgomery before hitting a wall again before Sweeney traded him. Frederic is now in Edmonton long-term with an extension earlier this summer.
As for Kyrou, there are rumors that he could be available in trade, and the Bruins should be interested. If they had drafted and developed him into the player he is today, then there would be a difference in terms of building the roster around him. Losing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci would have been an easier blow than it was.
If the Bruins had drafted Kyrou, they would have had deep depth at center in all of thier Stanley Cup Playoff runs and it would have been a bigger strength than it was with the two franchise icons. David Pastrank would now have a playmaking center instead of the front office chasing their tail in trying to acquire one.
It's easy to say that things would be different now, but Kyrou being passed is another draft failure like all the players passed on the year before in 2015.