Four Players Bruins Could Select With Seventh Pick In 2025 NHL Draft

The Boston Bruins will have to shake off the disappointment after the NHL draft lottery did not go their way Monday night.

The Bruins dropped to the furthest spot they could and received the seventh overall pick after finishing the regular season with the fifth-worst record in the league. Bruins general manager Don Sweeney and the rest of Boston’s front office will now need to zero-in on who they want to take with the pick.

Several high-end prospects will already be off the board by the time the Bruins get on the clock and Sweeney revealed the approach the Bruins will take now that they know they will be selecting outside the top five.

“I don’t think we’re going to be anchored positionally,” Sweeney told reporters, per NESN. “We’re just trying to take the best player that has the chance to be the best player in the National Hockey League that he’s capable of being. We always value hockey sense, you always value skating, you always value whether or not how competitive a player is, and you try to take the best player you possibly can. We’re just in a position now where we’re drafting in an area that we haven’t been for some time and we expect to add an impact player.”

Names of players the Bruins can draft certainly will get thrown out there with regularity over the next month-plus before the first round commences on June 27. So, let’s get that party started with four players the Bruins could select with the seventh overall pick:

Caleb Desnoyers, C (Mocton Wildcats, QMJHL)
Desnoyers would give the Bruins an offensive lift at a position of need. The 6-foot-2, 178-pound centerman put up big numbers this season in the Canadian junior hockey league by notching 35 goals and 49 assists for 84 points in 56 regular-season games. Desnoyers, 18, has two-way ability and the comparisons to Bruins legend Patrice Bergeron have already started.

According to ESPN’s Rachel Doerrie, Desnoyers is projected to be a “quality second-line center with a decent chance of becoming a first-line player.”

Jackson Smith, D (Tri-City Americans, WHL)
Smith is viewed as the second-best defenseman in the draft, only behind Matthew Schaefer, who is the favorite to be the top pick. The 18-year-old has good size to play along the blue line, standing at 6-foot-3 and 195 pounds, and is a left-shot defenseman. Smith won’t create a ton of offense from the back end but his defensive skills make him someone the Bruins could slot into their top four pairings for years to come.

Victor Eklund, RW (Djurgardens, Allvsenskan)
Eklund is ranked as the second-best international skater in the draft. Eklund put up 19 goals and 12 assists for 31 points in 42 games with Djurgardens this season, but he really exploded onto the scene due to his play on the international stage with the Under-20 Sweden team. There are questions about Eklund’s stature since he’s listed at 5-foot-11 and 161 pounds, but he makes up for it with hard-nosed play.

Jake O’Brien, C (Brantford, OHL)
The Bruins need more offense in their lineup and O’Brien showed in a big way this season he’s capable of carrying the offensive load. O’Brien notched 32 goals and added 66 assists for an eye-catching 98 points in 66 games. He has good size at 6-foot-2 at 172 pounds and he won’t turn 18 until next month. Outside of Pastrnak, the Bruins don’t have many high-end scorers, but could get one by selecting O’Brien.