Bruins’ high draft pick is only step 1 of many in a critical offseason

The Boston Bruins may very well land their next franchise center in the 2025 NHL Draft. But as Cam Neely and Don Sweeney work on getting their team going back in the right direction, the high draft pick is only step one of many. There's plenty of work to do on Causeway Street.

Neely and Sweeney jump-started the great retooling at the 2025 trade deadline, amassing a fresh pile of picks and players. But they still have a lot on their plates in the coming weeks and months of the offseason, if the Bruins' ambition is to have the kind of one-year turnaround enjoyed by the team that just rolled through Boston and beat them, the Washington Capitals. The reset in D.C. may be doable, but it involves numerous roster changes that would still need to be made.

The Caps didn't just sell pieces at the deadline a year ago. They also made a number of key moves to overhaul their roster over the summer, then during the season:

-- Acquired center Pierre-Luc Dubois from Kings for goaltender Darcy Kuemper
-- Acquired defenseman Jakob Chychrun from Senators for D-man Nick Jensen and 2026 3rd-round pick
-- Acquired goaltender Logan Thompson from Golden Knights for 3rd-round picks in 2024 and 2025
-- Acquired forward Andrew Mangiapane from Flames for 2025 2nd-round pick
-- Acquired forward Lars Eller from Penguins for 2025 3rd-round pick and 2027 5th-round pick (November)
-- Acquired forward Anthony Beauvillier from Penguins for 2025 2nd-round pick (March)

On top of that, they elevated 2019 third-round pick Aliaksei Protas to a bigger role. Protas took full advantage, putting up a career-best 30 goals and 66 points. Connor McMichael, selected five picks before the Bruins took Johnny Beecher in 2019, also took a step forward with new highs of 25 goals and 54 points in his second season as a full-time contributor.

The results reached lightning-in-a-bottle levels for the Caps. They're the No. 1 seed in the Eastern Conference, and could sidestep the Presidents' Trophy curse, as the Winnipeg Jets are favored to finish with the league's best regular season record. Dubois is likely to set a new career-high in points as the No. 1 center between Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson. Chychrun has scored 20 goals and locked in an eight-year extension as the team's franchise defenseman of the future. Thompson is fourth in the league with 31 wins and top-10 in goals against average and save percentage.

They even have a cherry on top this season, as they signed forward Ryan Leonard, the eighth overall pick in the 2023 draft, to his entry-level contract. Leonard became available after Boston College bowed out of the NCAA tournament, and the Capitals wasted no time signing him and inserting the 20-year-old right into the NHL lineup.

Do the Bruins have that guy in their system, let alone have the ability to accomplish all this in one offseason?

That's why simply having a high pick in the 2025 draft (they're projected for fourth, as of Friday) is just the start of what should be a busy, eventful, momentous summer in Neely and Sweeney's offices. Even if they do draft a legitimate high-end talent (preferably a center) in the top-10, they need to maximize that player's development -- and strive to do the same for every other prospect with a chance at the highest level.

As evidenced by 2021 first-rounder Fabian Lysell, it's worth wondering if the Bruins need to take a harder look at their overall development model. Lysell, a 22-year-old in his third season as a pro, has undeniable speed and skill, but can't crack an NHL lineup that has struggled to produce offense. Meanwhile, the vast majority of recent forward draft picks with sustained NHL ice time have bottom-six ability. Trent Frederic, Johnny Beecher, Jakub Lauko. Solid, useful players, but not the kind you'd want Lysell to be.

Matthew Poitras (second round, 2022) and defenseman Mason Lohrei (second round, 2020) have provided a glimmer of hope for improved drafting and developing in recent years. But both of them might be most valuable for Sweeney in a trade, as part of a package to make an upgrade at their spots. Sweeney may not need to move one of them if he wants to make his version of the Caps' trade for Chychrun, who qualified as a depressed asset at the time. The front office has to start looking for that kind of value in order to give the roster a fresh infusion of established talent.

And make no mistake about it: the Bruins need to invest in talent, the kind that can actually light the lamp, after what's likely to be a bottom-five finish in goals scored. Goaltender Jeremy Swayman should be expected to rebound and produce in 2025-26, along with a healthier defensive corps led by Charlie McAvoy. The same can't be said for this forward group.

If Poitras remains on the Boston roster for the 2025-26 season, it would make the most sense to figure out a regular spot for him at center. Same goes for Lysell at right wing. Those two seem to represent the Bruins' best hope to replicate the Capitals' success with McMichael and Protas. Sweeney will also get a nice test of his willingness to play more young prospects in the form of Fraser Minten, the 38th pick in the 2022 draft acquired in the Brandon Carlo trade, who could qualify for a bottom-six center role.

Then, there's a good-old-fashioned Hockey Trade™. The Bruins set the stage for a new era with the subtraction of Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Justin Brazeau, Carlo, and Frederic via trades, but they didn't really execute a shake-up. Sweeney may also want to consider making his equivalent of the Kuemper-Dubois trade at a key spot in the lineup, if he could find a partner.

For the B's to pull off what the Capitals did this past season would be to thread the needle. But they won't get there without trying. They have plenty of young players and picks, as well as a projected $27.1 million in cap space to work with this summer. And there's likely going to be a mandate to push the team back into playoff contention, immediately. So, expect plenty of moves and reinforcements.

It just remains to be seen who those players are, and how much the Bruins have truly learned from their past mistakes.

Matt Dolloff is a writer and digital content producer for 98.5 The Sports Hub. Read all of his articles here.