Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

Boston Bruins

MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 08: Frederic Brunet is selected by the Boston Bruins during Round Five of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

  • Don Sweeney’s eighth draft on the job with the Boston Bruins has come and gone.

    For the Bruins, it was a six-pick draft that focused on the center position, but also came with additions to the organization’s left-shot defensemen depth charts and even a goalie.

    Here’s who received the call from the B’s table at the Bell Centre…

  • No. 54: Matthew Poitras

    Jul 8, 2022; Montreal, Quebec, CANADA; Matthew Poitras gives an interview after being selected by the Boston Bruins in the second round of the 2022 NHL Draft at the Bell Centre. (Eric Bolte/USA TODAY Sports)

    After sitting out the first round of the 2022 NHL Draft as a result of their Mar. 2022 trade for Hampus Lindholm, the Bruins got things started Friday with their selection of center Matthew Poitras with the No. 54 overall pick.

    A 5-foot-11 center, Poitras put up 21 goals and 50 points in 68 games for the Guelph Storm of the Ontario Hockey League in his 2021-22 season. His 21 goals were the fourth-most among all Storm skaters, while his 50 points ranked third. Originally selected by the Storm with the 12th overall pick in the 2020 OHL Priority Selection, the Brooklin, Ont. native’s 50 points were the seventh-most among all OHL rookies this past season.

    Ranked as the 45th-best North American skater entering the draft, Poitras is a center that comes with some aggression and battle in his game, and has compared his style of play to key Lightning centermen Brayden Point and Anthony Cirelli.

    The Bruins would certainly take that on their team.

  • No. 117: Cole Spicer

    BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS - SEPTEMBER 23: A detail of the Bruins logo on the sweater of Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins during the first period of the preseason game between the Philadelphia Flyers and the Boston Bruins at TD Garden on September 23, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

    BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 23: A detail of the Bruins logo on the sweater of Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins during the first period of the preseason game between the Flyers and the Bruins. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

    Originally slated to pick at No. 91, the Bruins swung a trade with the Kraken to acquire a fourth and fifth-round pick in this year’s draft, and used the first of those two picks on North Dakota native Cole Spicer.

    Another speedy center, Spicer put up 10 goals and 16 points in 26 games for the U.S. National Development Team this past season, and added three goals and two helpers in six games at the U-18 World Junior Championships. Overall, the 18-year-old has put up 12 goals and 20 points in 46 games for the USNDT.

    Spicer, who also has experience playing high school hockey in North Dakota and for Michigan’s Honeybaked in the High Performance Hockey League, will play for the University of Minnesota-Duluth next season.

  • No. 119: Dans Locmelis

    MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 08: The Boston Bruins draft table during Round Six of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

    MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JULY 08: The Boston Bruins draft table during Round Six of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

    With their third pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, the Bruins dipped into the Swedish ranks with the selection of Lulea HF’s Dans Locmelis at No. 119 overall. With Lulea’s junior program for almost all of 2021-22, Locmelis put up a team-leading 18 goals, and was the team’s second-highest point getter, with 34 points in 44 games played.

    This is a Black and Gold pick that has P.J. Axelsson written all over it, as Axelsson serves as the club’s top European scout and is stationed out of his native Sweden. Axelsson is certainly familiar with Lulea, too, as they were one of 2021 first-round pick Fabian Lysell’s teams during the 2020-21 season.

    And though he plays in Sweden, Locmelis hails from Latvia, and is just the 40th Latvian-born player to be drafted into the NHL in league history. He is Boston’s first Latvian-born draft pick since Martins Karsums in 2004.

  • No. 132: Frédéric Brunet

    MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 08: Frederic Brunet is selected by the Boston Bruins during Round Five of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

    MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JULY 08: Frederic Brunet is selected by the Boston Bruins during Round Five of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

    After three straight picks at center to open their 2022 NHL Draft, the Bruins broke the trend with the selection of defenseman Frédéric Brunet with the No. 132 overall pick.

    A 6-foot-2, 176-pound defender, Brunet put up 12 goals and 46 points in 63 games for Rimouski Oceanic of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League in 2021-22, and added three helpers in nine playoff contests.

    Brunet admits that he grew up a Canadiens fan, but actually has a connection to the Bruins, as he took part in an offseason training session with Bruins captain Patrice Bergeron at Laval University.

  • No. 183: Reid Dyck

    BOSTON, MA - JUNE 24: Boston Bruins fans hold a giant flag with the Boston Logo on it prior Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Elsa/Getty Images)

    BOSTON, MA – JUNE 24: Boston Bruins fans hold a giant flag with the Boston Logo on it prior Game Six of the 2013 NHL Stanley Cup Final against the Chicago Blackhawks at TD Garden on June 24, 2013 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Elsa/Getty Images)

    Boston’s draft included a true Dyck Pick, as Sweeney and the Bruins ventured out to the WHL with the No. 183 overall pick and took Swift Current Broncos netminder Reid Dyck.

    In net for 23 games last season, the 6-foot-3 Dyck went 6-12-1 with an .884 save percentage and 4.26 goals against average. These numbers are hardly encouraging, I know, but the Broncos were a pretty woeful team, and this was basically Dyck’s first real jump into WHL competition after playing just eight games in 2020-21.

    The word on Dyck is that the size and raw skill is there, but that’s there’s certainly some kinks to be worked out. (Listen, there’s no other way for me to phrase that, so don’t even start with me. I tried to not sound like Brazzers.)

  • No. 200: Jackson Edward

    MONTREAL, QUEBEC - JULY 08: Jackson Edward is selected by the Boston Bruins during Round Seven of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

    MONTREAL, QUEBEC – JULY 08: Jackson Edward is selected by the Boston Bruins during Round Seven of the 2022 Upper Deck NHL Draft at Bell Centre on July 08, 2022 in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

    With their sixth and final pick of the day (the Bruins traded their late seventh-round pick to Los Angeles for a 2023 seventh-round pick), the Bruins went with London Knights defenseman Jackson Edward at No. 200 overall. (Because of course you’d draft a defenseman whose name is WILDLY close to Jack Edwards.)

    An OHL rookie in 2021-22, the 6-foot-2, 194 pound Edward put up six assists in 54 games for the Knights. But the word among those who saw him up-close is that there’s more playmaking skills than the final stat line indicated, and that they’ll come to the table as Edward continues his juniors career.

    But the Bruins are certainly getting a motivated Edward, as he admitted that he grew up a fan of the Bruins.

    In case you’re wondering, Zach Trotman was the B’s last seventh-round pick to make the NHL, playing in 91 games between the Bruins and Penguins from 2013 through 2020.

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