Welcome to Last Word’s Draft Boom and Bust series. As the 2020 NHL Entry Draft approaches, we decided to examine each team’s best and worst pick since the 2000 NHL Entry Draft. The biggest boom is a player that had the best value relative to where they were selected. Meaning, no one in the first round will be considered a team’s best value pick. However, the biggest bust picks will almost always be in the first round. We will examine each player, why they were picked where they were, and what their NHL career was like. Today, we look at the Boston Bruins draft, and their biggest boom and bust.
Boston Bruins Draft Boom and Bust
Biggest Boom
Brad Marchand
As a third-round draft selection in 2006, Brad Marchand was viewed as a highly developmental project. While very few players are ever pro-ready immediately after being drafted, the third round tells us that scouts thought he needed three to four years to truly be NHL ready. Spending two seasons with the Moncton Wildcats of the QMJHL, he would score 95 points in 129 games. As a small forward, standing 5’9”, Marchand still had much to prove.
Following the draft, he would return to the QMJHL, playing for the Val d’Or Foreurs for two seasons. His first postseason with the Foreurs would see 40 points in 20 games during a run to the Memorial Cup. His final season in Quebec would also be split with the Halifax Mooseheads. He only played in 29 games with Halifax. In 2008, he signed his first professional contract and was assigned to the Providence Bruins.
NHL Career
His first season as an NHLer was forgettable. He only put up a single assist in 20 games before being reassigned to Providence in the 2009-10 season. Marchand would come back with a vengeance the following season. He put up a respectable 41 points in the regular season. That postseason, he would truly set himself apart from the pack. Marchand set a franchise rookie record with 11 goals in a playoff run that would culminate in the ultimate hockey prize- the Stanley Cup.
Marchand would be a consistent 50 point contributor for many years. 2016 was the year that everything changed for him. He skyrocketed from a slightly above average player to the NHL elite. Since 2016, he has not registered less than 85 points and had an incredible 100 point season in 2018-19. While everyone simply thinks of Marchand as the “Little Ball of Hate”, remember that he does much more than just lick people.
Other Notable Booms
Patrice Bergeron
While Patrice Bergeron is truly elite and has been longer than Marchand, Bergeron was a second-round selection. More is expected from second-round choices. While he is one of the best second-rounders in recent memory, Marchand did just as much while keeping a later draft position in mind.
David Krejci
David Krejci is another second-round selection. While he has not been as good as Bergeron or Marchand, he has been a solid second-line centre for the Bruins since joining the NHL roster.
Biggest Bust
Jakub Zboril
Going into the 2015 draft, Jakub Zboril was a highly rated defenceman prospect out of the Saint John Sea Dogs of the QMJHL. He was capable of producing at both ends of the ice. Many mock drafts projected he would go in the first round. Those projections would be correct. With the first of three consecutive selections, the Boston Bruins decided to pick Zboril at 13.
Zboril would return to Saint John for two years before joining a professional roster. His second season with the Sea Dogs would be rather impressive, with 41 points in 50 games played. He signed his entry-level contract with Boston following that season and was assigned to the Providence Bruins of the AHL.
NHL Career
In his first two seasons in Providence, he would register 19 points each year. The second-year as a professional, Zboril would be called up to the NHL for the first time in his career. As Boston suffered from numerous injuries on the blue-line, they needed Zboril to fill the gaps. He would play two games for Boston and did not register any points.
Zboril has not played in the NHL since. As a former first-round selection, Zboril should have been in the NHL within three years of being drafted. That has not been the case as five years have passed and Zboril has barely had a sniff of NHL playing time. The Bruins draft could have been much more highly touted with a selection other than Zboril. The three picks after Boston’s last in the first round were Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor, and Thomas Chabot. While his chance at the NHL is not gone, it is quickly fading away.
Other Notable Busts
Zachary Senyshyn
Zachary Senyshyn was the third selection by Boston in 2015. He has six NHL games and registered three points in that span. He still has yet to prove he can play in the NHL full time.
Lars Jonsson
The Bruins selected Swedish defenceman Lars Jonsson seventh overall in 2000. He never played a single game for Boston and his only NHL minutes came in eight games with the Philadelphia Flyers.
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