The 2015 NHL Draft Failure Has Close The Bruins Championship Window
The Bruins were officially eliminated by the Islanders in 6 games during the second round of the 2021 NHL Playoffs. Boston has nobody to blame but themselves. The best player on the Islanders is someone the Bruins passed on with THREE consecutive picks. The failure during the 2015 NHL Draft has come back to haunt Boston and will likely become the defining moment that closes its championship window.
Patrice Bergeron and Brad Marchand are no spring chickens. Outside of David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, the rest of the team is very replaceable. There are no hot shot prospects rising through the ranks either. Boston flushed their draft picks down the toilet and now it’s coming back to bite them in the ass.
It doesn’t get worse than the 2015 NHL Draft. Boston shipped Milan Lucic to LA for a package that included the 13th pick. Boston’s own pick was number 14. They also made a trade with Calgary that sent Dougie Hamilton to the Flames for a package that included pick 15. That’s right. Boston had picks 13, 14, and 15. You guessed it. They botched all of them.
It was the first draft of new general manager Don Sweeney after Peter Chiarelli was just let go. Sweeney should have been fired directly after his first draft given the looks of this debacle. Sweeney is public enemy number one. The championship window is closed and the man running the show is still in charge.
The 2015 NHL Draft is one that will go down in the history books. Connor McDavid, Jack Eichel, Mitch Marner, Ivan Proverov, Zach Werenski, Timo Meier, and Mikko Rantanen all went off the board in the first ten selections. The problem is a lot of other good names came off the board after that. The Bruins came up empty.
At 13, the Bruins took Jakub Zboril. Now he’s still a young player and maybe has a chance to figure it out. Still, this is a big time whiff. Making matters worse, they passed on Thomas Chabot who played on the same amateur team (Saint John Sea Dogs) in Canada who went five picks later. GOD Damn JOKE. What does this defense unit look like with Chabot back there?
Pick 14, the B’s took Jake DeBrusk who has regressed into a borderline NHL player. He’s a fourth liner at best. Funny story, a few left wingers went right after DeBrusk in that draft. Kyle Conner went at pick 17. Anthony Beauvillier to the Islanders. Yeah, that guy who torched the Bruins. For what it’s worth, Sebastian Aho went in the second round too.
Pick 15 was the nail in the coffin. Who the fuck is Zachary Senyshyn? A: his name stinks. B: the dude isn’t even in the league really anymore.
Of course, Mathew Barzal went pick 16. The Bruins found a way to pass on Barzal with three consecutive picks. Want someone to blame for Boston’s playoff struggles? Point the finger at the guy who passed on Barzal three times in a row.
Those weren’t the only excellent players that went in that first round. Add Joel Eriksson Ek, Ilya Samsonov, Brock Boeser, and Travis Konecny to that list too.
Imagine if Boston would have just gone 2-3. What does this team look like with Chabot and Barzal. Hell, they probably win that 2019 Stanley Cup over St. Louis. They’re still alive in the 2021 NHL Playoffs too. The failures of this front office has closed the championship window in Boston.
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