Bruins round out their 2024 draft class with two late-round selections
After kicking things off with a forward and then trading up to draft a defenseman with their first two picks of the 2024 NHL Draft, the Bruins maintained a balance approach with their final two picks of the weekend’s festivities in Las Vegas, with forward Jonathan Morello and Loke Johansson drafted.
Taken with Boston’s fifth-round selection at No. 154 overall, Morello comes to the Bruins organization after a breakout year in the OJHL, with 25 goals and 57 points in 50 games for the St. Michael’s Buzzers.
The 17-year-old Morello, who is lauded for his skating ability in just about every scouting report, then built on that with an outstanding playoff run that featured 12 goals and 21 points in 11 games. Morello also posted one goal and six points in six games for Canada East at the World Junior A Challenge.
Morello entered this year’s draft ranked 100th by McKeen’s Hockey, 95th by FloHockey’s Chris Peters, and was Central Scouting’s 98th-ranked North American skater.
A 6-foot-3 left shot, Morello will play next season at USHL Dubuque, and is committed to Clarkson University for 2025-26.
And with their fourth and final pick of the 2024 NHL Draft, the Bruins ventured out to Sweden, where P.J. Axelsson has served as Boston’s top scout for years now, and grabbed the 6-foot-3 Johansson.
A lefty-shooting defender, Johansson totaled five goals and 13 points, along with plus-5 rating and 59 minutes in penalties, in 33 games for AIK’s U20 team. Johansson also moved up a level, and tallied one assist in 19 games for AIK in Sweden’s second tier of pro hockey.
Known for his physicality, Johansson’s drafting continues what’s been a noticeable trend for the Bruins on the size front when it comes to their defensemen, with Johansson being the ninth different 6-foot-plus blue liner drafted by the Bruins since 2020.
Johansson also fits a definite need for the Black and Gold’s defensive pipeline, as the pool has thinned out of late with multiple prospects turning pro in recent seasons.