Bruins look to continue recent success at the draft

BOSTON, MA – When Andrew Ference and Matt Hunwick went down due to injury during the playoffs, the Boston Bruins season shortly followed. The loss of Ference and Hunwick exposed the Bruins lack of depth in reference to puck-movers on the blueline and it ruined the team’s rebound season. It would be easy to target the defensive position for the Bruins in the draft but the club does not operate at the draft table based upon need. The team drafted Zach Hamill with the 8^th pick overall in 2007 and followed it with the selection of Joe Colborne with the 18^th overall choice in 2008. Both centers were added to a club that is already three deep at center with Marc Savard, David Krejci and Patrice Bergeron. The Hamill/Colborne picks prove the point that the club’s draft board and not the depth chart controls the players they choose. Boston is in an interesting situation this off-season. They had surprising success in the regular season and raised expectations as the season went along. However, those expectations fell flat when the Bruins lost to the Carolina Hurricanes on home ice in Game 7 in the second round of the playoffs. Frankly, the club played so well during the year that they needed to at least make the Conference finals in order to call the year a success. In addition to the blueline issues, the loss also showed how inexperienced the team was. Most players picked up experience during the 11 game playoff schedule this year, but there are questions about the overall grit factor and gumption needed to make a Stanley Cup run. Because of their success, the club has some players coming up for pay raises. Krejci is already taken care of, but the elephant in the room is Phil Kessel’s contract. Kessel is not your prototypical run-em-through the wall kind of guy but he did score 36 goals despite missing 12 games and gutted out a serious injury in the playoffs while still producing points. General Manager Peter Chiarelli’s first test after his four-year contract extension is going to be making a decision on the 21-year old. The club might simply offer Kessel the same amount of money that they did with Krejci and allow Kessel to make the decision on whether or not the team will have to move him. Speculation is that an offer sheet might come Kessel’s way, then Chiarelli will have to make the call on whether or not the first round picks will be equal value for Kessel. There are also rumors Kessel might be dealt for picks before the draft, then as usual most pre-draft talk is just that, talk. With the possible exception of having a void of scoring goals void if Kessel did not return, the Bruins are still pretty much set. The club will look to get bigger up front and will be looking for a puck-moving defender. Boston potentially had one in 2005 first rounder Matt Lashoff, but Lashoff never gained the club’s complete confidence and was dealt to Tampa Bay in the Mark Recchi deadline trade. The team will probably need to add a third-string goaltender to back up Vezina Trophy winner Tim Thomas. Tuukka Rask, who will be given every reasonable chance to make the Boston roster after two seasons in the AHL, will most likely serve as Thomas’ backup with the departure of Manny Fernandez. Adam McQuaid and 2007 draft choice Tommy Cross are the closest young players on the team’s depth chart on defense which shows any potential. Needless to say the position needs to be re-stocked. Up front things are looking better with Vladimir Sobotka, Mikko Lehtonen and Brad Marchant having legitimate chances at full-time NHL duty next season. Hamill and Colborne are scheduled to be in the AHL and in college, respectively, and the club thinks Maxime Sauve has a chance to be a decent player. The wild cards to make the team is forward Carl Soderberg and defenseman Yuri Alexandrov. Soderberg is turning out to be quite the white whale for the organization since he has settled in Sweden and is waiting for the Bruins to give him a one-way contract that he may not be ready for. Alexandrov is a solid young defender who could give some players a rum for their jobs in Boston, but he is coming off a serious injury in Russia and might be enticed to stay in the KHL. Word on the street is Alexandrov is coming over to participate in the club’s prospects’ camp but, as usual, the word is murkier about Soderberg’s attendance. The club’s upcoming first round draft choice will probably be met with whistles as the hostile Montreal crowd voices it’s displeasure with the Bruins after the Boston swept out the home team in the opening round.

There will be plenty of excellent players still on the board when Boston does pick, and the player who seems to fit the best for them based on how our mock draft is taking shape is defenseman David Rundblad. The selection of Rundblad is highly unlikely, not because the 6-2 Swedish defenseman is not worthy of the pick, but because the 6^th ranked European is listed in most mock drafts to go in the middle-teens to another club. The deal with Rundblad is he is a high-end offensive player from the blue line with many people comparing him to Washington’s Mike Green. “He has a very good shot. He is a right-handed shot and he is used on the power play, even in the (Elite) League despite being a young player,” said Goran Stubbs Central Scouting Services Director of European Scouting. “He is a very smart player. He could be a little more physical in his game, but that is something that he is learning.” In addition to being physical, Rundblad himself points out that he is going to be better defensively in order to become an NHL player someday. The good news is he is only 17 years old and the team drafting him could let him play in Sweden for a few years before bringing him over. Don’t count out another forward that could be taken by Boston. Local product Chris Kreider as a possibility, because the Bruins do not care about positions. That being said if Rundblad and his offensive puck-moving abilities are somehow still on the board Boston would be a logical place for him to go. “With the 25^th pick in the 2009 NHL Entry Draft, the Boston Bruins select, from the swedish Elite league, defenseman David Rundblad.” Contact the author at Tom-Schettino@prohockeynews.com