The best Boston Bruins draft pick by round since 2000
I decided to take a look back at all of the Boston Bruins drafts since 2000 and choose who the best player drafted out of each round was. The player chosen had to have played in a Bruins uniform at some point in his career. Below are my choices for who the best draft pick was by round for the Bruins since 2000.
1st Round – David Pastrnak – 2014 – 25th overall
Pastrnak is the runaway winner in this round. The Czech winger was taken 25th overall and had amassed over 350 goals and 350 assists in his career with the Bruins so far. He has also recorded the fourth most goals in a season by a Boston Bruin (Phil Esposito had the other 3) with 61 during his 2022-23 campaign.
2nd Round – Patrice Bergeron – 2003 – 45th overall
The Bruins had multiple guys that could have been chosen in this round but there’s really only one guy to be chosen. Patrice Bergeron was the face of excellence on the Bruins for two decades and his number 37 will be raised to the rafters of the TD Garden very soon. The six-time Selke champion amassed over 1,000 points in a Bruins uniform and spent the final three years of his career as captain of the team.
2nd Round Runner-Up – David Krejci – 2004 – 63rd overall
I can’t keep David Krejci off this list so I have to include him as the 2nd round runner-up. Krejci spent parts of 16 seasons as a member of the Bruins and put up 786 points. The Czech center also led the team in scoring during the teams Stanley Cup playoff runs in 2011 and 2013.
3rd Round – Brad Marchand – 2006 – 71st overall
The 3rd round category wasn’t a close one at all. Marchand has far and away been the Bruins best 3rd round pick this century and has mostly exceeded all expectations. The current captain of the black and gold is closing in on 1,000 career points and recorded a 100 point season during the 2018-19 campaign. Marchand had to carve his way into the lineup early on and then turned himself into one of the best two-way players in the game.
4th Round – Jeremy Swayman – 2017 – 111th overall
I went with Swayman here because, well, there weren’t too many other options. The other big player was Danton Heinen, but I’m not so sure in his two stints with the team he did more than what Swayman has done so far and can do in a Bruins sweater. Swayman’s career is, presumably, far from over in the black and gold and he should rack up a ton of wins with a new contract keeping him in town for a while.
5th Round – Anders Bjork – 2014 – 146th overall
Things got tricky once we hit the 5th round. Kris Versteeg had the most successful NHL career of all the Bruins 5th round picks, but I’m keeping this list to guys who actually played for the Bruins, which Versteeg did not. So Bjork became the choice here. It feels weird to say because he was a 5th rounder, but I feel like we never got the best of Bjork due to a lot of injuries during his time in Boston. His career best was 9 goals and 10 assists in 58 games during the 2019-20 season. He was ultimately traded to Buffalo as part of a deal that brought Taylor Hall to the Bruins.
6th Round – Andrew Alberts – 2001 – 179th overall
The 6th round was a tough one, as you’d probably expect. I went with Alberts over Oskar Steen and Anton Blidh but it could’ve been any of them. Alberts played parts of 3 seasons with the Bruins and then ultimately lost to them in the 2011 Stanley Cup Finals.
7th Round – Matt Hunwick – 2004 – 224th overall
Hunwick spent parts of four seasons as a member of the Bruins before being traded to Colorado to open up some cap space. The d-man had a terrific 2008-09 campaign with the Bruins tallying 6 goals and 21 assists in 53 games. However, the offense for the offensive minded defenseman wasn’t always there.
***I stopped this list after 7 rounds which is the current length of NHL Entry Drafts***
