Bruins Picking 7th | Head Coach Search Continues

Bruins Picking 7th | Head Coach Search Continues

Boston Bruins did not win the draft lottery and in fact are now picking seventh in the upcoming NHL entry draft. Don Sweeney spoke to the media and there are rumors of who the next Boston Bruins head coach will be. So, I’m going to talk about all that. So, buckle up Bruins fans. I’m here to give you the latest info on your beloved Boston Bruins. If you’ve been liking my Bruins content, please leave me a like and subscribe if you’ve already done so. Thank you. And let’s get into it. He scores. The Boston Bruins going into the draft lottery had an 8.5% chance of winning the draft lottery and selecting first overall. Their highest percentage was 44.7% to select sixth, but because the Islanders jumped to first and Utah jumped to fourth, the Bruins moved to seventh. It’s just one of those years for the Boston Bruins. Not ideal as getting into that top five yield a better talent pool. Don Sweeney, on the other hand, seems to think he can get an impact player at number seven. Well, I mean, we’re still uh picking in the upper echelon of the draft, which we haven’t done for a significant time period. So, we feel very comfortable in terms of where uh the the top seven picks are and uh and we’ll get a good player and an impact player. Um regardless of the disappointment of moving back a couple spots, that’s just the nature of the lottery. Well, I mean, if you had a chance to win the lottery, I’m sure you receive phone calls in terms of of whether or not you’ll ever move that pick at seven. You still may. um difficult to move up from there, but but we’ll we’ll do our due diligence in terms of what what teams may want to jockey around and uh and we still very very comfortable about where we uh the scouting that we’ve done and uh and the player we’re going to get at at seven if we decide to stay there. Uh I mean, you never know. The surprises are what they are each year. I think you find a player that that uh um you know comes out of the gate and and and looks like he can play right away. Whether that’s acclamation, you know, I mean, some of these guys have been injured for a period of time. So, are they, you know, mature enough and physically ready to play, that’s to be determined. Um, the league gets harder as it goes along. And you see a lot of these players do get injured, um, you know, when they start out early. Um, but they’re all good players in the upper echelon of the draft. You got some guys that have played pro, um, you know, over in Sweden. So, it’s, you know, um, it’s a chance to impact your club. Whether that’s next year, that remains to be seen. Yeah. I mean, these these players have been scouted for multiple years. Um, obviously, you want to see players perform at the perform their best in in crucial time periods and leverage situations that they have a chance to win, you know, whether that’s playoffs and memorial cup or uh um, you know, their own, you know, leagues, um, U8s that just finished up. So, there are there are good high point moments that you want to evaluate players and how they respond, but you don’t want to be weighted down in terms of one single viewing. It’s a context of, you know, some points time two and a half, three years that these players have been seen and you have to have the body of work in place to to properly evaluate. Now, I’ve spoken about who the top five are, but I think with the seventh pick, the Bruins are looking at a couple players. I want to start off by talking about Jake O’Brien, who has been touted as a player that has some of the best playmaking abilities in this draft. The 6’2, 170lb center plays for the Brford Bulldogs of the OHL. According to the scouting report from the hockey writers, O’Brien is the ideal player that you want in an extremely intelligent two-way playmaking center. He’s a leader with his on ice and he is constant play driver and he when he has the puck come the combination of his high IQ, playmaking vision, patience, deceptiveness he brings with the puck is what makes him dangerous and extremely difficult to contain in the open ice and high danger areas. He can be very elusive in the offensive zone on the cycle without the puck and he’s always getting in undetected for a rebound opportunity. O’Brien displays great control through the neutral zone and is constantly making plays at quick pace. Even when there’s nothing there, he’s exceptional at opening space up to the draw players and expose those lines to distribute the puck. He excels with puck passing plays, making accurate cristo tape passes, but his ability to execute connect on difficult cross-seam passes is impressive. He doesn’t force plays, always taking the extra second to evaluate his options and can make difficult plays look easy, even when there’s nothing there. O’Brien always seems to find a way to get the puck through his intended target for a prime scoring chance. His strengths are strong patience and offensive vision, excellent playmaking, 2-8 center, deceptive and elusive puck with control, offensive catalyst and driver, strong complete level and drives. Like he sounds like the perfect guy. Things he needs to work on though was he needs to add muscle and strength like most of these kids in this draft and improve his player play at the dot and on his face offs. In 66 games this season, he scored 32 goals and got 66 assists for 98 points. He is projected to be a top six forward in the NHL and I would think someone the Bruins would love to pick if he’s available. If the pick goes as predicted, he would be the best player available at seven and he happens to be a center. He would need to work on getting stronger and I think the Bruins organization can help him on the faceoff. They’ve been great with all the centermen they’ve had throughout the organization over the years. Another player I’m sure the Bruins hope will be available when they pick at seven, which I don’t think he will be, is Caleb Dinoer, who the Bruins recently scouted. Doyers is a 6-2 center who weighs 172 lbs who plays for the Monton Wildcats of the QMJHL. This season he has 35 goals and 49 assists for 84 points. Scanning report on Denoer is he’s an exceptional skater known for his long powerful stride and quick acceleration, making him effective in the forchecking and defensive coverage. Offensively, he poses a dual threat as both a playmaker and a scorer. His vision and puck handling skills enable him to create scoring opportunities. And while his shot is still developing, it shows promise, particular with techniques like his drag and shoot boot. The Snowyers views the game from a unique perspective. He is rarely out of position on either side of the puck and can anticipate the game’s movement several steps ahead of his opponents. When he is in control of the puck, whether he’s in the zone or the opponent’s opposition, must always be alert. He can execute everything from a simple chip off the boards to initiate a breakout to making a precise stretch pass through the defense for a breakaway. Deser sees opportunity from many players mistakes. Defensively, Desoyers is reliable player who demonstrates strong positioning, effective backecking and impressive faceoff skills as evident by his 69% success rate in the circle. His physicality and willingness to engage in battles further enhances his overall game. He also exhibits clear leadership qualities, having served as the alternate captain for team Canada in various international tournaments, including the Helinka Gretzky Cup and the U7 World Championship. His strengths include defensive play, competitiveness, hockey sense, physicality, and playmaking. He does need to work on his offensive potential, his shot, and his mobility. If he’s available, I think the Bruins would pick him with their seventh pick, but I think he’ll be gone by the seventh pick as his stock is rising leading up to the draft. I thought the Bruins, if they had the fifth pick, might even take him there. The last player I want to talk about though for the seventh pick is Roger McQueen who I think is my intriguing pick because he’s been played by injuries. Every Brewing fan though keeps talking about him because McQueen is a 6’5 center who is 192 lbs and plays for the Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL. He suffered a spinal stress fracture called a PAR fracture of spinodilysist on October 11th and didn’t return until March 4th. I 100% didn’t say that correct. I’m well aware. The scouting report on him though is McQueen is a big, highly skilled center who can dominate games with a quick puck movement and great positioning. His best attribute is his puck movement. Despite standing 6’5, he can weave in and out of traffic, keeping the puck tight to his body and never losing control. Not many big players can thrive in tight, but McQueen defies the stereotype and does his best work under pressure. He’s even better when he’s right in front of the net, using deceptive movements to set the goalie off balance and find the perfect place to put the puck. Away from the puck, McQueen is a solid contributor. He’s an excellent netfront presence, positioning his body to block a lot of goalies visions and can quickly react to chips in rebounds and deflections. He’s always looking for ways to try and score given his size and strength. He’s not easy to move on once he sets up shop just outside the blue paint. His physicality isn’t what you’d expect from a big player, but he’s not afraid to use his size to lay big hit and force a turnover by getting in the way. He does need to use his strength more frequently, but he’s developed significantly since the last season. McQueen’s skating is also solid for a big player. He has big powerful stride and can get him where he needs to be quickly. There are better skaters in this draft class who can use their stride more efficiently, but he doesn’t have major problems with his skating. He gets good power from his takeoffs and edges and is knows how to use his side and strength to his advantage, generate plenty of speed. Similarity, his defensive pressure could use some work as he’s often seen floating just outside of the play, but because of his speed, he can jump in quickly if needed. He can sometimes rely too much on his ability to jump back into things, too, which limits his ability to be consistent threat in all areas of the game, raising some questions on his hockey sense. It also raises questions whether the Bruins would take a player like this cuz he seems like a project. So, oh jeez, what am I saying? Obviously, the Bruins are going to take this guy, and I’m going to be frustrated about it. His strengths are strong net front presence, great puck movement, agile skater, especially for a big player, and competent back checker. He needs to work on his consistency and lacks intensity at times, and he doesn’t have the best hockey sense. Man, I I don’t know why fans keep talking about this kid because every time I talk about him, it just makes me more and more not want to take him. I would think McQueen is the prototypical Boston Bruin that all the fans want. But if it wasn’t for a serious injury, he might be ranked higher and which can also lead to a lot of the strengths and weaknesses because we didn’t really get to see a lot of them. I would hope the Boston Bruins do all the homework they can with regards to his injury if they even consider taking this kid. He feels like the pick the Bruins make every year at the draft so does make me worry a bit. He has potential to be a top six forward in the NHL, but also could have some serious back issues later on. And his consistency is an issue for me, especially that hockey side. Out of these three prospects, my pick in order, if available, would be Desawyers, O’Brien, and then McQueen. I want to hear from you, though. Who do you think the Bruins would pick? Next, I want to talk about the head coach position as Don Sweeney offered an update on the head coaching search. Uh, ongoing. Um, have spoken to uh some coaches. Haven’t done any in-person interviews yet. Um, but we’ve narrowed a list down and we’re going to we’re going to move forward with uh um some Zoom uh interviews and then inerson interviews uh in a very short matter. Uh I mean since we’ve we’ve uh the players have have left he’s not here on a daily basis. Um you know continues to uh to talk to players on his own accord. We don’t set any boundaries in terms of where Z in in talking to our coaches and uh and our players. we’ve given him some latitude to as as a you know advisory role and a mentor role as he sees fit and establish relationships on his own terms. Um and you know I think that will continue to evolve going forward with uh you know with the new head coach. Um then we put that in place and the rest of the staff uh he’ll develop that relationship moving forward and and determine how much you know involvement he’s going to have on that level. No, it’s still a holding pattern as I referenced earlier. Joe would be part of the search. Jay Leech will be part of the search. So again, when I reference that we’ll have a new co new head coach, it could easily be one of them. Um, you know, they’re they’re strong candidates and they’ll be in the candidate pool as I referenced before and uh along with some other really good uh, you know, experienced level coaches on different levels that uh, we’re going to we’re going to find the right guy. As you heard, Sweeney talks about one potential candidate still coaching in the playoffs, and the rumors are he’s referring to Misha Donskov, who is currently on the staff of the Dallas Stars. Connor Ryan writes, “The 47year-old Donskov is held in high regard across the league circles as he’s the lone NHL assistant who served on team Canada’s coaching staff alongside head coach and former Bruins coach Bruce Cassidy, Peter Dbor, and Rick Tockett during the Four Nations faceoff.” Don Sweeney played a key role in assembling that roster and coaching staff as team Canada’s GM. So, the ties are there between him and presumably outside hire like Donscope. Donsko served as Cassin staff in Vegas during the team’s Stanley Cup title in 2023 before joining the Stars coaching staff for the last two years. Donskovv also has some experience when it comes to roster building as he was initially Vegas’s director of hockey operations from 2016 to 2019 helping the franchise build a team up that went to the Stanley Cup final in its first NHL season before serving as an assistant coach from 2019 to 2023. Donskov seems to check a lot of boxes. And Sweeney, having previously worked with him this year at the Four Nations, I’m sure it’s stoking fires on that rumorville. Sweeney said he didn’t want an inexperienced coach, but I doubt they’re looking for a highprofile coach as well as the Bruins are in a transition period right now. They want a coach that can grow with the team and nurture the young roster. I don’t mind the Bruins looking to give a guy his first head coaching job, as I’m a little tired of coaching carousel we constantly see in the NHL. Let me know what you think of Donskov and do you think he’ll be the Bruins next head coach? That’s a wrap on today’s video. To stay up to date on all the news surrounding the Boston Bruins, please subscribe and drop me a like. If news breaks surrounding the Boston Bruins, be sure to check out the channel. If you’ve already subscribed to the channel, thank you and I’ll see you next time.

The Boston Bruins will pick 7th in the NHL Entry Draft, and I cover some players they might take at that position.

I speak about Caleb Desnoyers, Roger McQueen, and Jake O’Brien.

Don Sweeney said the coach search continues, but one candidate is still coaching.

#nhlbruins #bostonbruins #bostonbruinsnews

Time Stamp

Intro 00:00
NHL Draft 00:26
Head Coach 9:27
Outro 12:16

Sources

Caleb Desnoyers – 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

Roger McQueen – 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

Jake O’Brien – 2025 NHL Draft Prospect Profile

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-bruins/2025/05/05/don-sweeney-offers-update-on-bruins-head-coaching-search/

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