The Bruins Nightmare of a Draft
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- čas přidán 13. 03. 2024
- The 2015 NHL Draft, famously tied to Connor McDavid, boasted significant talent. Despite having three consecutive first-round picks, the Boston Bruins' selections didn't match the draft's top tier. While one pick remains in the NHL, the Bruins missed out on potential stars, leaving lingering questions about their Stanley Cup prospects despite post-draft regular-season success.
00:00 - Intro
02:03 - The Draft
02:21 - #13
04:10 - #14
05:46 - #15
07:33 - What Could Have Been - Sport
DISCLAIMER: At 9:08 the Bruins would not have Debrusk. Still an insane roster though.
It’s quite hilarious how after the Bruins picks came Mathew Barzal, Kyle Connor and Thomas Chabot. All the players the Bruins needed.
I don’t think they would’ve drafted barzal because they had Bergeron and krejci in their prime down the middle
Dont need Chabot...
@@edited1325 Yeah that's the part of the narrative no one ever talks about. Barzal likely would have ended up in a similar position to Jack Studnicka. He would have been stuck wallowing in Providence and unable to develop.
@@exturkconner that would’ve been hard to watch 😬
@@edited1325 It wouldn't have really. Plenty of guys stuck in Providence and didn't develop. I mean I don't think it would have been any harder watching Barzal not be impactful than it was watching Zboril, or Senyshyn.
Not only that, but the fifth round pick that they traded to the Minnesota Wild was Kirill Kaprizov.
@@Warshipgamersno it wasn’t lol the coyle trade was in 2019
Not even true.
@@ZacStJean yes it is
@@zc6602it wasn’t…
@@zc6602except the kaprizov pick wasn’t in the coyle trade, it was a 2015 5th for a 2016 5th while Boston was on the clock for the pick that became kaprizov
Even if the Bruins picked Connor, Barzal and Chabot, the team would not look like you showed, because they would've ran into some serious salary cap issues
Yea but the first 3 seasons with those guys on ELCs woulda been craaaazy
And they never would have acquired Charlie Coyle. Hell, if they draft a guy like Chabot who's stock raises tremendously during that D+1 season and Boston knows they have a stud in the pipeline, there's a chance they don't draft Charlie McAvoy the following draft.
Not only that, but he includes DeBrusk on the second line with Connor…who would have been drafted in his place. It’s one or the other, not both.
I remember this all too well. Boston had a verbal agreement with Carolina that if Boston could get 3 first round picks then Carolina would trade the number 5 pick because Boston really wanted hanifin who played for Boston College and was born in Boston. Carolina backed out last minute leaving Boston with the 3 picks and I don't think Boston was ready for it
absolute stud move by Carolina
Yep... sweeney dropped the ball
That’s super interesting. I never heard about that
Crazy that Carolina could've had Barzal, Connor and Chabot instead of Hanafin.
@@JVreemer crazy that Boston could've had barzal Connor and Chabot after getting fleeced for hanafin
I KNOW WE MESSED UP GODDAMMIT
Man it really drives your point home when you go through the guys that were available for the Bruins to take. Bruin fans would love Barzal and Connor, for example.
But this draft still wasn’t as screwed up as my Habs taking Doug Wickenheiser over Denis Savard in ‘80!
Or Patrik Stefan to Atlanta
How would Debrusk play with Connor if they never drafted him?
Ha! My fault.
As a canucks fan i feel you boston. Our dunce of a gm benning drafted multipul draft bust while super stars being picked immediately after.
Jared McCann over David Pasternak......
McCaan is an NHLer at least. We picked Juolevi over Tkachuck :(
@@lotte604😮😬 ......Yikes
Don’t forget, that the two seconds that came with the Hamilton trade also didn’t really work out tor Boston either.
Six picks in the top 52..
Christ.
Mikko rantanen was the number 1 euro prospect that year yet fell to 10 to the avs. They were one if the only teams who took less than 1 min to make there selection. I cant belive the avs stole mikko at 10.. next year we got jost at 10... the draft can really make or break a team.
I could cry.
Great video. I find the Bruins funny. Of all their choices as much as I like DeBrusk, are you kidding me Bruins? You had three tries in 2015 and that's your best pick? Wow.
Thanks!
Its not even hindsight either. EVERY analyst had Connor + Barzl as MUCH better prospects than Debrusk + Senyshyn. Konecny was universally ranked much higher than both too.
Zboril was a defenceman on the Saint John Sea Dogs when he got drafted, and to be fair to the Bruins, they were on the right track. It's just that the Sea Dogs defenceman they should have taken was Thomas Chabot (yes there were two of them that round)
The Kings got Lucic and gave Boston their first round pick and goalie Martin Jones. A few days later the Bruins traded Jones to San Jose for a first round pick.
yeah and that first rd pick could have/should have been alex deBrincat!a true no. 1 center.what a bunch of idiots!
@@LifePathOne-hi8nxDeBrincat is not a center.
Brandon Carlo @ #37 was one heck of a pick though
I was in a chat thread during this draft. The lone Bruins fan was losing his mind with every pick. He knew they blew it right away.
I don't understand the DeBrusk dislike?
He's not a bad player, just a lot of better options were available.
Hes solid but still a bad pick given the all great players they passed on to reach for him. Connor, Barzal + Konecny were all seen as much better prospects at time and have become star top line guys.
Even if they stuck with DeBrusk they still could have picked better on the other two, especially the senyshyn pick
Watch just about every single Bruins game. I do not enjoy watching Debrusk play hockey.
I understand the picks around that time were out of order for the Bs but people seem to like DeBrusk when he scores or makes a play 🤷♂️
This is typical Bruins. Fire the GM that brought a stanley cup to Boston after 39 years and bring in a GM that has won ABSOLUTELY NOTHING! Great job!
Peter Chiarelli wrecked this organization. He screwed up the salary cap situation, traded Tyler Seguin and Johnny Boychuk, and other decisions resulted in them missing the playoffs in 2015.
Chicarelli was awful and right to move on from him. In this same draft he traded the Barzal pick + another first for Griffin Reinhart who never became an NHLer ...
Bro, you’re talking about Peter Cirelli, Peter Cirelli
Imagine what Dallas would have done with those picks.
imagine anyone else - even with no hockey knowledge would have been able to do with those picks, lol
@@mattbcameron If Columbus had those picks they would have drafted even worse :DD
Theyd have taken 3 Finns 😉
@@mattbcameronright. It’s always easy to look back and act like a genius. Hindsight is always easy to do.
@@steveshutt6409 all they had to do was pick the scout picks… they picked zack synishin… wasn’t even going until round 2 according to scouts.. so yeah foresight is not 20/20 but they wiffed on one for sure.
Great video! The Flames did something very similar in the 2013 draft (also a very deep draft). Could make a great video :)
The Bruins were trying to trade up into the top 3 picks in the draft and thought a team would trade a top 3 pick for 3 picks in the teens. When that didn't happen, the Bruins were stuck (in a way, by surprise) making 3 picks in a row. That wasn't their plan at all. Rumors/stories are that the Bruins didn't even do much scouting of the teen prospects and, instead, heavily scouted the top of the draft.
What's more interesting then the Roster the Bruins could have, is the fact that they screwed up 3 First Round Picks in a Draft full of generational Talent and are STILL a Top 5 Team in the League in 2024 and played the best Regular Season in NHL History in 2023. It's amazing when you think about it. The Bruins are so good, they can afford to miss in the Draft because they have created a System where they just succeed with whoever they get.
Drafting is easy, you just pick the Guy you think has the biggest upside, the difficult part is to actually develop them. I think there's no team in the NHL that actually knows how to develop NHL Talent on a consistent basis. Maybe the Rangers or Carolina but they're not that far off from everyone else. When you look over to other Sports like Baseball you have the Dodgers, Rays, Cardinals, Braves who are incredible at developing Talent into MLB Stars. In Soccer there's Liverpool, Dortmund, Bilbao. In Football you have the Chiefs, Eagles or Packers who always Draft well. The NHL doesn't have such a Team. That's why Boston or Vegas are always good. They give up on Draft Picks for Stars because they know they can't develop anything anyway so they don't even try. Buffalo and Arizona should be Juggernauts with the Talent depth they have. But both just don't know how to Delevop. I believe this is the biggest room for improvement in the NHL over the next 5-10 Years. Lets see who's gonna get it done. And please let it be Pittsburgh.
Zboril as stated was actually ranked around there and quite honestly was ruined by the organization instead of a classic bust. Even though Debrusk has succeeded, skipping over Connor with the same skillset only better was unconscionable. And having 3 picks and not taking a center especially with one there is just dumb.
True. But at the time they had Bergeron and Krejci still in their prime.
How exactly was Zboril ruined?
@@MrLuridan Passed over by inferior talent, never getting into the lineup even on back to backs. Constantly scrutinized for EVERY minor mistake while others aren't for bigger ones. Watch enough sports and you'll find players who just never got the chance and then were called busts.
@@southpawjimmy9735 Yeah. I think the constant criticizing and micromanaging a young player”s game can wreck their whole career quickly.
How was Zobril ruined by the Bruins? He had a gaming addiction and ruined himself.
Debrusk was a great pick since he’s still being productive with the bruins
He's been good. Almost got traded a few deadlines ago.
the Bruins have been so good last few seasons (at least in the regular season) any half decent forward would put up similar numbers in his place
Lol how is it a great pick if they reached on him to take over many MUCH better players?? Everybody had guys like Barzl, Connor + Konecny ranked much higher who r MUCH better NHL players ... thats a bad pick
Note about Zboril: In 2018 Jeff Marek reported that there was a recent first round pick out of the CHL from a very prominent team who had such a bad video game addiction that it would ruin his chances of ever making it to the NHL. He never confirmed who it was, but a few years later the Bruins subreddit found an interview Zboril did with a Czech journalist where it mentioned him having a bad gaming habit in the past. If that rumored player was in fact Zboril, make that another reason for the 2015 first round to be a nightmare.
Wow I never knew that
I remember that story. I also remember thinking, 'Wait, what?'
The Bruins have always been weird - Jeremy Jacobs is the Monty Burns of the NHL; he would have young players traded the minute they started to either think for themselves or ask for a raise. Joe Juneau in the 90s, Joe Thorton, Phil Kessel, Tyler Seguin, Doug Hamilton...yeah, sure they had success after those deals, but imagine how many more cups they would have won.
As a life long Bruins Fan. All I can say is we are very use to things like this. From Draft picks to Trade or Free Agent signings. We often find ourselves thinking WTF?!?
Oh well. Go Bruins!!!
And the old Sequin trade was brutal too. And yet they compete every year!!!
Boston could have had Mathew Barzal, Thomas Chabot, and Kyle Connor. But I would have been happy with Barzal, DeBrusk, and Chabot.
At least they drafted Carlo and Lauzon. DeBrusk/Carlo would both go in the 1st round in a redraft.. it still stings though, what could have been.
The B's really blew this draft ! Zboril was basically across the board the next d-man to go so his pick at #13 wasn't a big surprise and not the B's fault that he never turned into much. DeBrusk wasn't a bad pick at #14 as he was a productive player in the WHL and has been productive in the NHL but not a star. Senyshyn was a bad pick and could have been chosen by the B's in the 2nd round! They could have been winning cups if they had taken a couple of players like Matt Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, Joel Eriksson-Ek, Brock Boeser or Travis Konecny! The chance was there to become cup winners instead of just an excellent regular season team!
Not the B's fault in drafting zboril? C'mon man.. why have scouts then if you are just gonna draft the next man up... ridiculous.
I love this topic. But i have one nit pick.
Chabot is definitively not a superstar.
I'm a sens fan and most sens fans (including me) have somewhat fluctuating opinions regarding Chabot. He is a very good defenceman, but His defensive play is inconsistent, and his offensive production never reaches levels you would expect. I love him, but I've come to terms with the fact that he is just very good but not great... At least so far.
Sebastian Aho was also drafted in the second round. Imagine the Bruins had someone like him. Tbf he wasn't considered a first rounder at the time but still. Same with Roope Hintz
They had the 45th pick, Hintz was definitely still a possibility
It's a bit of a stretch to call Debrusk a bust. He's no superstar, but he stuck in the NHL and gets 40-50 points every season. For a late 1st round pick, that's totally fine.
You also have to remember that statistically speaking, virtually no picks outside of the first 2 rounds end up being consistent NHL players. There are tons of exceptions to the rule, but something like 75% of the league is a round 1 or 2 pick.
Next draft they took Mcavoy at 14 and next Pasta at 25 so they are good organization drafting wise. Still that must haunt gm to this day
Pasta was 2014 draft
Pasta was previous draft. Not after.
A good breakdown of a bad situation, but when did the projected lineup you have Connor, Barzal and Chabot without omitting DeBrusk.
Yeah I made mention of that in my pinned comment. My fault!
Zboril was a beast tho in his draft yr and could hit
Here’s how I look at this as a bruins fan. If we drafted barzal, chabot and Kyle conner we would’ve lost 2/3 of them out of their ELC. We got debrusk, the other two guys we drafted but out of the 2015 class we managed to pick up Ullmark from buffalo who is the best goalie out of the class. So overall kinda a win win.
haha love the horror movie piano sounds
If JDB, a UFA, walks this summer, all THREE first round picks would be gone. He hit with McAvoy, Swayman, Freddy, Carlo on the roster. But having three first rounders in the proper hands could have been a franchise defining opportunity. What Sweeney did was put first round grades on players, JDB aside, who were not first round talents.
The concluding graphic of the Bruins potential roster includes 4 picks from the 2015 draft: Barzal, Conner, DeBrusk, and Chabot. This is a significant error, since they could not have selected 4 players with 3 first-round picks. Still a really good video, overall, though.
And yet the Bruins are still consistently one of the best teams. I am not a Bruins fan but they are a great organization.
how many star players were supposed to be on boston? too many to count
we can see what could have been..... but why did they pick the guys they did?? has the scouting/management ever explained this?
Sweeney has addressed it before: www.nbcsportsboston.com/nhl/boston-bruins/don-sweeney-admits-infamous-2015-nhl-draft-weekend-was-a-steep-learning-curve/329119/
Not even hindsight either. Bizarre picks that made no sense at time outside of Zobril who ended up not even being an NHLer. Connor, Barzl, Konecny were all blue chip prospects universally ranked top ten or fifteen. Debrusk + Senyshyn were seen as multiple tiers below them. Insane.
im a fan of the bruins and the isles. the 3 consecutive pics not selecting barzy is funny to me everytime. but i am so glad the isles have him we need literally anyone interesting
Zach is now a Top Player in the DEL german Hockey League
When this draft happened, I thought they were going to draft Barzal with one of those picks. If I remember correctly Barzal was easily a top 5 pick before he torn his Achilles. I was hoping avs would grab him, but either way I am happy with Mikko
You guys have definitely been lucky with drafts.
@@HecticHockey we've been lucky with our top 10 picks, we can't develop anyone outside of the top 10 to save our lives lol
Ya Barzl + Connor were the very obvious choices. Every outlet had them ranked from 7-13 and were expected to be high end scorers. Senyshyn/Debrusk were MULTIPLE levels below them as prospects.
I’m a bruins fan , and although we literally couldn’t have made worse decisions, I tell myself we did steal pasta at 25th over all. But yea, I would take just one of those being a good pick at this point.
I mean atleast there's pasta 😂😁
That was in the 2014 draft
ye i know, not the same draft but one year earlier.
This is why I want to be an nhl scout!! Apparently you don’t even need to show up for work
The weird thing is Barzal and Connor were obvious picks. Everyone had them around 10.
Yep. Not even hindsight. It was so clear to everybody that Barzl + Connor were by far best prospects left. Were ranked top 0 by most and would be like 5th best prospect in average draft. Konecny was ranked top fifteen by everybody too.
The Bruins could've extending their window massively in this draft, even if they took Barzel/Connor, Debrusk and Chabot they still would be completely set up to keep contenting for the foresable future. I think now their time will come to an end a lot sooner
I think what's important about this draft that's not often covered (before I fully dive into your video) was the fact that 2 of these picks were traded for, by the gm they just fired. Meaning, Chiarelli could've had a entirely different plan for those 3 picks - rookie gm don Sweeney took the ropes, and landed 3 picks all off board picks. Really embarrassing stuff if your us, (I am a bs fan) but makes you always think what if and what was the plan that was in play getting these picks.
And Sweeney didn't even pick pastrnak.
In my opinion one of the dumbest things the bruins did was trade Tyler Seguin, when he was the fifth leading scorer in the league.
i mean they still fleeced my leafs for rask...
Yeah, well. How many teams wish they had taken Pastrnak in 2014? A dozen at least.
As a Bruins fan all I can do is laugh, because I laughed then. I knew this outcome
Did the Bruins scouting staff get any demotions or firings after this? This is on the scouting staff
Let's be honest, the Bruins weren't the only teams that goofed by passing on Chabot and Barzal
As a Hawk fan i do not feel sorry for the Bruins! They a fricking great every year!!!!!
I still think Debrusk was well on his way to being a top winger for the Bs until the 2019 playoffs. Against the Leafs, Kadri crosschecked him in the head and he played through the remaining playoffs with a concussion. He was never the same player after that. Such a shame. He found a spark after Montgomery was brought in to coach, but now, in a contract year and being practically invisible for half the games, it's clear that it was only temporary. I think he needs a change of scenery. I'm worried the Bruins will overpay for him.
As a bruins fan it’s also painful to admit that our 4th rounder that was traded to Minnesota was used to snag Kaprizov, just makes this draft THAT much worse
All you Bruin fans are being too hard on yourselves. Drafting 18 and 19 years old hockey players is a very difficult science with the exception of very fool players like mario lemieux or wayne gretzky. None of us have a crystal ball to know how a player will turn out in the future.
Kaprizov was a 5th round pick
This was the year Boston fell in love with mathematical analytics. An interesting high-risk, high-reward experiment. But maybe not an experiment for a team with a ton of veteran talent and 3 mid 1st round picks.
The problem with analytics in hockey is that unlike other sports like baseball (where’s it cut and dry), hockey is a fluid, more nuanced and team game. Analytics gathering in hockey is largely subjective data too. It does have a place, but maybe as a 3rd or 4th tool in player evaluation. A player who inadvertently blocks a shot with his shin pad in garbage time in a blowout loss gets credited for a blocked shot. A player who dives face first to block a shot in a tie game is also credited with a blocked shot.
Hockey analytics is far, far less as important as an experienced hockey mind who’s evaluating a player live, with his eyes and can detect the nuances of the game.
@@chevelle1 Also most advanced stats in hockey are assigned to everyone on the ice when a given thing occurs, without analysis of who is responsible for good or bad things.
This wasn't the year Boston fell in love with analytics. They've historically been ahead of the curve in terms of statistics and using the best tools at their disposal. It's part of the reason as to why the Bruins have maintained their relevancy and competitiveness for so many years. Using these picks to villainize analytics is a pretty weird stance
The only way Sweeney can reduce the weight of this massive fumble from around his neck is to win the Cup. Full stop.
Thank god for pasta
As a bruin fan . This draft haunts me lol those players could have been drafted a lot later in the draft . I don’t understand how u mess up like tht .
because their dummies who don't like talent,but plenty of useless defensemen.it's a scorer's league mr. sinden who still lives in bruins management's heads.weird&sad.
It stings to watch but great breakdown of that infamously poor first round draft by Sweeney.
The bruins were going to trade up to 5 with Carolina. It was set in stone barring a surprise. Well when Arizona passed on hanifin for Dylan strome Carolina was shocked he was available and bailed, leaving the bruins in a bad spot. They didn’t scout mid 1st round because they thought they’d be up at 5. Doesn’t excuse how it ended up but gives some insight
Love seeing people still trying to defend the Bruins over this. The no-brainer choices were Barzal and Konecny. And they still screwed it up.
U r forgetting Kyle Connor who everybody had ranked 7-13 too. Legit blue chip prospects expected to be high end NHL scorers. But they choose far less talented, worse producing guys ranked 25-60. Insane.
Doesn't seem to be hurting them much
Sweeney completely blew that draft. Right now they dont have many draft picks. Have to sign free agents from seniors whose college hockey season's wrapped up.
Look on the bright side: you guys still got a slightly-used Pavel Zacha down the road! Wasn't he supposed to be one of those elite 2015 picks?
Signed,
An Equally Frustrated Devils Fan
imagine if they got Barzal, chabot, connor/boeser/or svechnikov
Even debrusk, chabot and barzal would have been sweet
svechnikov? Hes terrible. Konecny makes far more sense.
Yet somehow the bruins have still managed to be good
They wouldn't have Debrusk and Peeke obviously
Would have been happy if Boston had taken Evgeny Svechnikov instead.
Instead Holland and head scout Tyler Wright thought Svech was the answer, he was not.
As a Bruins fan this hurts lol. honestly the amount of fans that still like debrusk infuriates me! I've always disliked him and over the last 5 years its straight hate.
Jake has been a great player … yup they kind of F d up with the other two especially the guy they could have gotten later … But they did pick Carlo in Round 2
Debrusk is still far inferior to the guys they passed over to reach on him (Connor, Barzl, Konecny)
Hey Zach, Niall here. Please take this down and stop reminding me. Thank you, Bazookachel.
I'm sorry Niall
Thomas Chabot, Superstar defenseman is a reach buddy
Woulda, shoulda, coulda.
LOl i remember that
I had to check the video like 10x to understand the name. You are about to draft a player and you don't even check how to pronounce his name? Jacob Zoborl...wtf? Why on earth do you have to change his name. He is no Jacob he is Jakub, I do understand the confusion with his surname as the accent on r makes it impossible for foreigners to pronounce but dude, couldn't they check with Krejčí who would tell them how to pronounce his name even without the accent on r.
Yup. Sweeny blew it. That's his MO.
I remember watching this draft because of Mcdavid and the guys weren't that shocked with Zboril and Debrusk, but yeah, they were like wtf when Zacky boy got picked. I believe they called it mismanagement. They were like okay you like the kid, but then you trade back and pick up a pick or two. I think the Bruins got Carlo in the second rd, so it wasn't a catastrophe. Mismanagement probably cost the Bruins another cup or two. Trading Sequin was a bad move. Moving Hamilton wasn't that great, either. Chiarelli fu!@ed up so much as a GM. The Bruins were lucky that Peter wasn't still the GM. At the 2015 draft, he traded, I believe, the next pick and a 2nd for Griffin Reinhart. That pick was Barzal. So it could've been worse. Maybe he goes and moves Pastrnak for a bag of pucks and ruins the franchise.
No one can out lose a draft to the Oilers lmao but this was a good attempt
Barzal should have been a no brainer
+ Connor. Both were legit blue chip prospects who go top ten in most drafts. Passing on them for MUCH worse, less talented prospects that were ranked 25-60 was insane
Debrusk just scored btw
Good analysis though you need some more enthusiasm in your voice...
I’m glad they screwed up, otherwise they could have snagged Konecny. And I’m glad Philly got him.
Chabot isn’t a superstar defenseman.
Minnesota taking Ek & Kaprizov in 2015 😋
2011. Last time they won the cup
No shit. You cant be first in the league and expect the best draft picks
😂you drafted 3 new players yet still had debrusk I'm the line up?
Yeah that's my fault
They would’ve won the cup multiple times if they drafted right
And yet Bs are still finding ways to destroy my Buds 😢
Oooops
I remember watching that draft and getting excited because Barzel was projected to go in the top 10 and fell to us… also I remember watching that getting upset that the bruins didn’t even take the best d man on that junior team!
It was crazy that they had 3 consecutive picks. And 2 really sucked.