Clarification On The Bruins’ Pursuit Of Collin Graf

After signing University of Minnesota forward and captain Jaxon Nelson to a one-year entry-level contract on Tuesday morning, the Boston Bruins are likely out of the Colin Graf sweepstakes.

Have they pursued the highly-coveted NCAA free agent and Lincoln, MA native?

Yes, they have.

Did the Bruins, as many reported, wake up on Tuesday morning as frontrunners to land the soon-to-be former Quinnipiac University star forward?

Not according to a source close to the situation:

“I don’t know where people are getting this information. It just seems like they’re making it up,” the source told Boston Hockey Now on Tuesday morning.

The information that the source is referring to is from the rampant reports that ran wild on social media on Monday that the Boston Bruins were closing in on signing Graf, who scored 22 goals and had 49 points in 34 games for Quinnipiac this season. Those reports stemmed from a report by Daily Faceoff NHL insider Frank Seravalli speculating that the Bruins were frontrunners for Graf based on the fact that he is from Lincoln, MA and that general manager Don Sweeney attended the Providence NCAA Hockey Regional Final that Graf and the Bobcats lost 5-4 in overtime to the Boston College Eagles on Sunday.

“Some sources are speculating the Boston Bruins,” Seravalli said on his Daily Faceoff Live Podcast on Monday. “Don Sweeney and the Bruins executive staff were at the game [Sunday] in Providence to watch these two teams. They got a first-hand viewing of Collin Graf, where some would say he had a tough regional tournament. It’s probably easier to list the teams who haven’t been in on Graf and a lot of Western Conference teams as well, like the Colorado Avalanche, Arizona Coyotes, and San Jose Sharks. The Edmonton Oilers have spent a long time watching Graf, and another team in the East is Pittsburgh. Graf is from Massachusetts; he’s a Boston Jr. Bruins player, so that makes a lot of sense.”

Note: The Boston Bruins and the Boston Jr. Bruins are not affiliated in any way so the fact he played for the Junior Bruins is irrelevant. 

Not once did Seravalli say that the Bruins were the frontrunners for Graf; he simply said that it would ‘make a lot of sense’ if the 6-foot, 170-pound forward wound up signing with the Bruins. However, just because there is a local tie and the Bruins want to sign Graf doesn’t mean they will or that they even have the best chance to land him. As we reported here last week, the Bruins were not frontrunners for Graf heading into the NCAA regionals. According to the aforementioned source above, that remains the case, but that hasn’t stopped the Bruins from continuing to pursue Graf.

“They’re still going hard at him, but they’re not at the front of the line right now,” the source said on Tuesday morning. “There’s plenty of teams still pushing hard but he has about three he’s narrowed it down to and should make a decision really soon.”

That source would not name who those teams are, but in speaking to various NHL amateur scouts and executives who have scouted and kept tabs on Graf throughout the season, the New York Rangers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Nashville Predators, Washington Capitals, and Florida Panthers were all teams still believed to be ‘very much’ in the mix as of this past weekend.

Will the Boston Bruins enter that mix on Tuesday and sign Graf even after they signed Jaxon Nelson?

We could very well find out by the end of the day, and if not, then in the next few days at the latest.