Cool with drafts
Homegrown players to contribute now, later
The NHL has become a young players’ game over the past decade. The top talent in the league is lopsided toward players in their early 20s, or in the case of a few stars, their teens.
One needs to look no further than the Bruins to see the trend in effect.
And given where the roster and organizational depth chart was just five years ago, it’s been quick work.
The emergence of Trent Frederic, Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson, and Jack Studnicka has highlighted this year’s camp.
Plus, established “veterans” Jake DeBrusk (turning 22 this month), entrenched on the second line and expected to build on his solid rookie campaign, and David Pastrnak (22), entering his fifth NHL season, are the same age as JFK. Frederic is 20.
And even though he was returned to his Ontario junior team in Oshawa, Studnicka, a secondround pick, has made progress alarmingly fast for a 19-year-old.
“He had a nice camp,” said Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy. “but he’s still young.”
Brandon Carlo, expected to be a top-four defenseman after missing the latter half of last season with injury, turns 22 in November. Then of course, Charlie McAvoy, who will likely be the youngest player on the roster (turns 21 in December) entering his second full season and third overall in the league.
Though it’s been noticeable at this year’s camp with so many youthful players close to NHLready, it’s a movement that began long before this season.
In a lot of ways, the beginning was when Don Sweeney, in his first season as general manager, selected Jakub Zboril, Zach Senyshyn and DeBrusk in 2015.
The response wasn’t good, with potential stars Mat Barzal and Kyle Connor left on the table. But with DeBrusk developing into a productive scorer, and the other two showing some flashes in the offseason, the outlook is now very optimistic.
The young talent has also helped to re-energize parts of the lineup.
To get to the real start of the building of the 2018-19 Bruins, however, one has to step back one more year.
After the high selections of Tyler Seguin (2010) and Dougie Hamilton (2011), long since traded, it looked like a draft drought was about to take shape with the selections of Malcolm Subban (2012) and Linus Arnesson (2013), to name a few.
Until 2014, which is a draft that has produced key contributors from the Bruins’ top four picks: Pastrnak, Ryan Donato, Danton Heinen and Anders Bjork. That was Peter Chiarelli’s last draft.
And Sweeney made quite the splash with his first. In addition to the promising first-round trio, he added Forsbacka Karlsson and Carlo in the second round.
JFK came close to making the team this season, and he would assuredly be one of the first candidates to be recalled if the B’s need a forward from Providence.
“JFK had pockets of really good shifts, and other times he was tentative where we had to remind him it’s a 60-minute game,” said Cassidy earlier in camp. “But again they are young guys.”
In the 2016 draft, McAvoy fell into the Bruins’ lap at the 14th pick, and then Frederic was a pleasant surprise at the end of the first round.
In 2017, Urho Vaakanainen, who has had a strong camp as a 19-year-old, was selected with Studnicka, and the 2018 additions of defenseman Axel Andersson and third-rounder Jakub Lauko look good on the surface.
Vaakanainen in particular has blossomed in his first chance with the big club.
“Like a lot of young guys, he’ll have to get harder on those smallarea battles,” said Cassidy, “but I think that’s normal. I think he’s been really good.”
In the past five seasons, the Bruins draft picks have combined for 368 points, with two of those years yet to feature any NHL appearances. The previous five classes combined for 359 Bruins points, including 204 from Hamilton and Seguin. They were both selected within the top 10 — a luxury the B’s have not had since.
Of projected regulars in the lineup, 17 players are homegrown. The lineup combined for 721 points a year ago, and 246, or just over a third, were contributed by players selected in the past five drafts.
It’s been in the making for five years, but now, the Bruins’ youthful depth — on the big club and beyond — could be the envy of the league.
And there’s still young players in the system such as Andersson and Lauko who could add to the Bruins’ “hit” sheet in the upcoming seasons.
But, after years of disappointing drafts (Jared Knight, Jordan Caron, Zach Hamill), the selection and developing process has to be credited.
As the Bruins project to be even younger than a year ago, and are bursting at the seams with young talent throughout the organization, they should be ready to hear more accolades.