NHL Draft Loser: Boston Bruins
Mandatory Credit: Steve Mitchell-USA TODAY Sports
The Boston Bruins came into the morning of the first round of the NHL draft needing to answer quite a few questions. The answers they gave with not at all encouraging. I kind of understand why they traded Dougie Hamilton (afraid of losing him to an offer sheet), but they could easily gotten more than what they received from the Flames. Heck, I would have done whatever it took to keep Hamilton because teams like Boston build around young elite defensemen like Hamilton.
I’m not sure if it was just awful timing, but they announced that they extended defenseman Adam McQuaid almost immediately after trading Hamilton. McQuaid is a serviceable bottom pairing defenseman, but he’s not anything close to what Hamilton is.
To make matters worse, they drafted a guy many had going in the second round or at earliest late first round with the Flames’ first round pick. If you’re going to trade one of the best young defensemen in the NHL, you’d better nail that pick. They didn’t. They struck out on their own first round pick too, drafting Jake Debrusk way higher than where he probably should have gone. I like Debrusk, but if the Bruins thought he was their guy, why not trade down (which in theory they had 15 minutes to do)?
I actually like the Milan Lucic trade for them. They got the Kings to overpay for a player who I feel is overrated. I’m a fan of Jakub Zboril. The Lucic trade might have been the only smart move they made during the weekend other than grabbing Brandon Carlo in the second round.
Another issue: Considering the market for goaltenders, why not trade Malcolm Subban? The Bruins got Martin Jones in the Lucic trade. Obviously he can be the backup goalie. Most likely, he can be that for a cheap price as well. You can never have enough cheap NHL-caliber goaltenders. Rask is the long-term starter in Boston. Subban’s value will likely never be higher. If Robin Lehner fetched a first rounder, Subban could have at least fetched a second or a third round pick.
The Bruins need to fully commit to a rebuild for this weekend to make any sense to me. And even THAT wouldn’t make much sense. It’s hard to imagine that this is the same team that won the President’s Trophy a few seasons ago.