In a season in which the Bruins fire their coach and traded their captain, what’s one more worst-case scenario?
The B’s, who finished with the fifth-worst record in the NHL, dropped as far as they could have gone in the NHL Draft Lottery on Monday, falling to seventh after the New York Islanders jumped them to get the top pick and the Utah Hockey Club won the second drawing to move up 10 slots to the No. 4 pick.
It’s not what they were hoping for, but GM Don Sweeney had no choice but to look at the bright side.
“We’re still picking in the upper echelon of the draft, which we hadn’t done for a time period so we feel very comfortable in terms of where the top seven picks are and we’ll get a good player and an impact player, regardless of the disappointment of moving back a couple of spots,” said Sweeney. “It’s just the nature of the lottery.”
Defenseman Matthew Shaefer and center/wing Michael Misa are expected to go first and second, but after that it’s anyone’s guess. Boston College center James Hagens could go third, or he could drop to seventh where the B’s are picking. Same goes for Moncton center Caleb Desnoyers, who is still playing in the CHL playoffs, or rugged wing Porter Martone, or center Jake O’Brien, or Swedish center Anton Frondell or center Roger McQueen.
While the B’s could use No. 1 center of the future, and there are quite a few centers available in this draft, Sweeney said he’s not going to be locked into taking a pivot.
“I don’t think we’re going to be anchored positionally. We’re just going to take the best player that has a chance to be the best player in the National Hockey League that he’s capable of being,” said Sweeney. “We always value hockey sense, we always value skating and you always look at how competitive a player he is and you try to take the best player you possibly can. We’re just in a position now drafting in an area where we haven’t been in some time and we expect to add an impact player.”
While the general feeling is that there are few, if any, players in this draft that will step into an NHL lineup next year, Sweeney would not put a ceiling on any player he picks.
“You never know. The surprises are what they are each year,” said Sweeney. “I think you find a player that come out of the gate and looks like he can play right away. Are they mature enough and physically ready to play? That’s to be determined. The league gets harder as it goes along. You see a lot of these players do get injured when they start out early. But they’re all good players in the upper echelon of the draft. You’ve got some guys who’ve played pro over in Sweden, so it’s a chance to add to your club. Whether it’s next year, that remains to be seen.”
Sweeney also said he’ll be active on the phones in case there’s a trade to be had involving his No. 7 pick.
“If you have the chance to win the lottery, I’m sure you receive phone calls in terms of whether you’ll move that pick,” said Sweeney. “At seven, you still may. It’s difficult to move up from there but we’’ll do our due diligence in terms of what teams may want to jockey around and we’re still very comfortable with the scouting that we’ve done and the player we’re going to get at seven if we decide to stay there.”…
Coaching search update
Sweeney said his search for a new head coach is ongoing at his usual methodical pace. He said he’s spoken to some coaches, though he hasn’t done any in-person interviews yet. The next step is some Zoom interviews and finally in-person interviews.
He said both interim coach Joe Sacco and assistant coach Jay Leach remain candidates.
“It could easily be one of them. They’re strong candidates and they’ll be in the candidate pool,” said Sweeney.
Sweeney also said he’s waiting to talk a coach that is still involved in the Stanley Cup playoffs. One name to keep in mind on that front is Dallas Stars assistant Misha Donskov. He is in his first year under head coach Pete DeBoer but had spent seven years in the Vegas Golden Knights organization, the last four as an assistant on the bench. He won the Stanley Cup with former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy in 2023.
Donskov was also on the Team Canada coaching staff for the Four Nations Faceoff that Sweeney led as GM.
