Boston Bruins

Bad Lottery Luck Doesn’t Change Bruins’ Draft Strategy

Published

2 weeks ago

May 8, 2025

If there were no such thing as bad luck, the Boston Bruins would have no luck at all.

Nothing went the way the Bruins hoped during the 2024-25 season, and that remains true as they turn toward the offseason.

After executing a textbook tank and doing everything they could down the stretch of the year to improve their odds in the NHL Draft Lottery, the balls did not bounce in the Bruins’ favor as they were left with the seventh overall selection, the lowest possible pick they could’ve received.

Now, rather than having their pick of a sure-fire prospect, the Bruins will have to settle for whoever falls to them.

In a sense, though, that was always what the Bruins were going to do. Whether they won the lottery and had the top pick, or if they were once again situated at the bottom of the first round like they have been for the past number of years, their strategy for navigating the draft board was never going to change.

The Bruins are going to take the best player available, and it’s as simple as that. It always was.

Is it overly simple? Probably.

But for a team that has made only three first-round selections over the past seven years, it has to be.

The Bruins have one of the shallowest prospect pools in the league. The majority of their prospects project to be role players in the NHL at the bottom of the lineup, and that’s at their ceilings.

Even those with higher potential are far from a certainty.

Matthew Poitras had a rocky sophomore run after turning heads as a rookie. He appeared in just 33 games across two different stints with the Bruins this year, scoring only 11 points with one goal.

Fabian Lysell came up at the end of the season and started to string together some encouraging performances. But will he be able to earn a spot on the team out of training camp this coming year and beat out an NHL veteran vying for the same role? He wasn’t able to before.

Last year’s first-round pick, Dean Letourenau, struggled mightily during his freshman season at Boston College. The organization has not lost faith in him, and nor should they, but it’s clear that he has a long way to go before he moves from Chestnut Hill to Causeway Street.

Picked at 25th overall, Letourneau is largely viewed as a boom-or-bust prospect. This year, selecting with the seventh pick, the Bruins don’t have that much room for error.

“I think the stakes are a little higher, and they should be,” Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said. “You’re trying to evaluate players that are impacting your hockey club. You do find players that trickle down and impact later on as well, but I think you have to expect to hit your pick when you pick where we are.”

No matter who they pick at No. 7, may it be a forward, defenseman, goalie, man, woman, or child, the Bruins will take the best player available, because regardless, they’ll be better than anyone else they already have.