Bruins’ draft lottery odds up in air after overtime loss to Devils
The Bruins’ odds for the No. 1 overall pick could fluctuate between now and Friday.
Apr 15, 2025; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; New Jersey Devils defenseman Brian Dumoulin (2) and Boston Bruins right wing David Pastrnak (88) skates after the puck during the first period at TD Garden. Mandatory Credit: Bob DeChiara-Imagn Images
Eliminated from postseason contention almost two weeks ago, and not exactly close to the true bottom feeders of the National Hockey League, the five games of the Bruins' lost 2024-25 season could've done more harm than good. Especially after wins against the Hurricanes and Penguins.
But there was neither harm nor good that came out of Tuesday's season finale against New Jersey. Instead, it was nothing but more uncertainty (even with their season slate officially over) with their odds of obtaining the No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NHL Draft thanks to a 5-4 overtime loss.
With Boston's overtime loss and a Flyers loss to the Blue Jackets, the Bruins went from having the fourth-best odds of picking No. 1 to the fifth-best odds of picking No. 1. The Flyers still have a game in hand, though, meaning that things could still change between now and the end of the season.
The simplest way to explain it: The Bruins no longer have to worry about what happens with the Kraken. Even if the Kraken and Bruins finish tied in points, the Kraken hold the regulation wins tiebreaker over the Bruins, meaning that they cannot jump Boston in the draft lottery odds.
What the Bruins really need, though, is the Flyers to earn at least one point against the Sabres in their season finale on Thursday night. If the Flyers do that, the Bruins will move back into having the fourth-best odds (9.5 percent) of earning the No. 1 overall pick in next month's draft lottery. If the Bruins finish with the fifth-best odds, they will have an 8.5 percent chance of capturing the No. 1 overall pick in this year's draft.
The one thing we do know right now, however, is that the Bruins cannot pick lower than seventh overall in the 2025 NHL Draft.
But naturally, the game that you expected to come with the Bruins going down without a fight in the name of the draft pick came with one of their best pushes of the season, as the Bruins rallied from a two-goal deficit.
Prior to the game, Morgan Geekie was honored as the winner of the NESN 7th Player Award for the 2024-25 season. Already on the board with career-highs in goals, assists, and points, Geekie decided to build on that in the season by blasting home the first of four Boston goals in the losing effort.
The big blast was good for Geekie's 33rd and final strike of the breakout campaign, only further reinforcing his case for a big-time payday as one of the B's pending restricted free agents this summer.
In addition to the Geekie marker, David Pastrnak, Marat Khusnutdinov, and John Farinacci found the back of the net for the Black and Gold.
Farinacci's goal was the first of his NHL career, and came in his NHL debut. An interesting little factoid about that: Farinacci's cousin, Ryan Donato, also scored his first NHL goal in his Bruins/NHL debut.
With the goal, Farinacci became the fourth Bruins player to score their first career NHL goal this season, joining Fabian Lysell, Michael Callahan, and Parker Wotherspoon on that list.
