NHL Releases Draft Order; Bruins First Pick At 92nd Overall

The NHL released the official order for the 2023 NHL Draft on Thursday, and unless they trade up, the Boston Bruins will have to wait until the 92nd overall pick to draft their first player.

The 2023 NHL Draft takes place on June 29-30 in Nashville, Tennessee.

The Boston Bruins traded their 2023 first-round draft pick to the Washington Capitals on February 23 in the trade that netted them defenseman Dmitry Orlov and winger Garnet Hathaway. The Bruins also traded a 2025 second-round draft pick and a 2024 third-round draft pick, and forward Craig Smith in a three-team trade with the Washington Capitals and Minnesota Wild.

That 2023 first round pick will be the 28th overall pick and now belongs to the Toronto Maple Leafs via a Feb. 28 deal between the Capitals and the Maple Leafs. The Leafs sent defenseman Rasmus Sandin to the Capitals in exchange for the Bruins’ original first round pick and defenseman Erik Gustafsson.

The Boston Bruins used their 2023 second round pick in the trade that brought them defenseman Hampus Lindholm at the 2022 NHL Trade Deadline. The Bruins acquired Lindhom and defenseman Kodie Curran from the Ducks in exchange for defenseman Urho Vaakanainen, defenseman John Moore, their 2022 first-round draft pick, their second-round draft pick this year, and a 2024 second-round draft pick. The Ducks will retained 50% of Lindholm’s remaining salary for the 2021-22 season. The Boston Bruins then promptly signed Lindholm to an eight-year, $52 million contract that carries a $6.5 million cap hit.

After the Boston Bruins pick 92nd overall, they will pick in the fourth round (124th overall), in the 6th round (188th overall), and twice in the seventh round (214th and 220th overall).

The Bruins first pick in the seventh round was acquired from the Los Angeles Kings in exchange for a 2022 seventh round pick.

Clearly the Boston Bruins would like to pick sooner in this year’s NHL Draft, and Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has said he will explore ways to move up. However, despite the lack of a first and second rounder, Sweeney does not regret going all in at the deadline to reward his record-breaking team, even if they lost in heartbreaking seven-game first round series this past April.

“Well, I mean, you can always compare Seattle — they added one piece to the deadline,” Sweeney said back on May 9. “You know, there have been years where we have stayed, you know, pretty steady. I think we try to take our P’s and Q’s as to where our team is, where our performance level is, and react accordingly. Clearly, the market dictates whether or not players are available and how aggressive you need to be. The acquisition costs are generally quite steep, at the deadline you’re trying to fill holes. In our case we had two and then shortly thereafter had three significant injuries. And in some of those cases, we weren’t sure they were actually going to play in the playoffs.

So, again, you have to take your direction of how your team is playing first and foremost. And we were in a very good spot, and we expected to have a deep roster to take a run if we got healthy and made the decisions. So, you know I look back — I didn’t say at times you’re sitting there at the table, and you know, you’re kind of going all in and then you have to do the job afterwards. No different than years past where we’ve had to draft with less capital. And now we had a lot of capital to draft. I mean, roster decisions are coming in, changes are coming. So, you know, if the opportunity presents itself in the draft, perspective this year or in future years, where you have to look at everything and make the best decision for the organization.”