If there has been one thing consistent with the Don Sweeney era as general manager (GM) of the Boston Bruins, it’s been that their prospect pools have ranked near the bottom of the NHL (from ‘Boston Bruins rank No. 32 in NHL Pipeline Rankings for 2023,’ The Athletic, Aug. 21, 2023). There are many factors for that, including trading away first-round picks at the trade deadlines and of course, the swing in miss of three straight picks in the 2015 Entry Draft.
Fast forward to 2017-18, the Bruins had a top prospect pool from where they were currently getting big contributions from prospects back then. Here is a look back at their top seven prospects from that season and how things have gone since then.
Charlie McAvoy
It’s safe to say that Charlie McAvoy wasted little time in getting to the NHL. He is currently their top blueliner and their best two-way defenseman. His first full NHL season was 2017-18 and in 63 games, the former Boston University standout had seven goals and 25 assists. He was a steady presence in the lineup learning from Zdeno Chara, but since the former Boston captain left, McAvoy has taken over the void he left.
In 2021-22, he had 10 goals and 46 assists in 76 games, then after missing the first month and a half last season recovering from offseason surgery, he had his best offensive season with seven goals and 45 assists. Averaging over 22 minutes a night in 2022-23, he was locked long-term by Sweeney and is most likely a future captain of the Black and Gold.
Anders Bjork
A fifth-round pick in the 2014 Draft, there was some thought that the Bruins found a diamond in the rough with Anders Bjork, who was projected as a top-six forward. That never materialized and he ended up playing four seasons in Boston and 138 regular season games, the former University of Notre Dame forward had 16 goals and 23 assists.
In the 56-game shortened 2020-21 season, Sweeney traded him to the Buffalo Sabres in a deal that acquired Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar. That trade was a win for the Bruins as Hall was a big piece of the middle-six for two full seasons before he was traded to the Chicago Blackhawks in June. Bjork played three seasons with the Sabres, recording just 14 points in 74 games, and spent last season with the Blackhawks and had two goals and eight points in 13 games.
Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson
Selected 45th overall and in the second round of the 2015 Draft, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson only played in 29 games for the Bruins, 28 in 2018-19 with three goals and nine points. After two seasons at Boston University, he had 15 goals and 17 assists for the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League (AHL) in 2017-18.
Related: Bruins 3 Up, 3 Down: DeBrusk, Pastrnak, Prospects & More
In May 2019, he left the Bruins to go to Sweden to play in the Swedish Hockey League (AHL) and has not returned since. It was a disappointing end with Boston after he showed some promise in his first season with the P-Bruins. He played three seasons in SHL and had 10 goals and 18 assists.
Zach Senyshyn
The third of Sweeney’s three consecutive first-round picks in 2015, Zach Senyshyn struggled in the Bruins organization from Day 1 and never made it full-time to the NHL. He spent four seasons in the AHL with Providence with his best season being in 2021-22 when he 19 goals and 12 assists. In 14 games in Boston spread over those four years, he had one goal and two assists.
In 2022, he requested a trade from the Bruins once he saw the writing on the wall and he was sent to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for veteran blueliner Josh Brown. Like in Boston, Senyshyn never got a shot with Ottawa and played in just two games. He has spent last season in the AHL with the Utica Comets and Chicago Wolves after the Senators let him go.
Urho Vaakanainen
One of the top defensive prospects the Bruins had in 2017-18 aside from McAvoy was Urho Vaakanainen. One of a few first-round picks by Sweeney, he was selected 18th overall in the 2017 Draft. After a good run in Finland, he signed his entry-level deal, and spent the majority of his in the organization in the AHL with Providence.
Over four seasons, he played in 31 games in Boston with six assists, but he was never able to carve out a role on the left side with the depth of the Bruins. At the trade deadline in March of 2022, he was traded to the Anaheim Ducks as part of a deal that sent Hampus Lindholm to Boston. Since being traded to the Ducks, he has dealt with injuries that have limited his playing time to just 37 games.
Trent Frederic
If there has been on path to the NHL to watch for a Bruins’ prospect, it’s been Trent Frederic. A surprising first-round selection by Sweeney, 29th overall in 2016, the former University of Wisconsin forward had a tough start to his NHL career, but has since turned it around with coach Jim Montgomery.
He played in 42 games in 2020-21 with four goals and five points, but he was a physical presence for the Bruins and that continued in 2021-22 with eight goals and 10 assists in 60 games. He fell into former coach Bruce Cassidy’s doghouse and found himself as a healthy scratch on some nights, but under Montgomery last season, he broke out. On the third line with Charlie Coyle and Hall and had a career season with 17 goals and 14 assists for 31 points. Bigger things are expected from him this upcoming season.
Jake DeBrusk
Aside from McAvoy, the other player who has made a major impact in Boston is Jake DeBrusk. It always hasn’t been a smooth sail for the 14th overall pick in the 2015 Draft, but he is coming off of his second 27-goal season for the Black and Gold. Under Cassidy, he scored 27 goals in 2018-19, but struggled the next three seasons. Frustration boiled over and he requested a trade, but Sweeney never honored it and held onto him and gave him a two-year contract extension for $8 million. He rescinded the request after the Bruins fired Cassidy.
He responded last after rescinding his trade request by tying his career-high in goals with 27 with 23 assists for a career-high 50 points. He more than likely would have set a new career-high in goals if he wasn’t out six weeks with an injury. Out of the three first-round picks in 2015, Jakub Zboril, DeBrusk, and Senyshyn, it’s clear that the Edmonton native has had the most success and that was when he was moved up to the first line with Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand. He seems to be finally living up to the consistent first-round hype.
Other prospects the Bruns had that year were Danton Heinen, who recently signed a PTO to return to Boston, defenseman Jeremy Lauzon, who was the first selection of the Seattle Kraken in their 2021 Expansion Draft, and current left-shot blueliner Matt Grzelcyk. More was expected from this group in terms of impact with the Black and Gold, but it never happened. This is a group that has had five impactful NHL players out of 10. Unfortunately, not all of that has been in Boston.
