Boston Bruins 2025 NHL Draft Preview!

Boston Bruins 2025 NHL Draft Preview!

don Sweeney saying “Hey we’re looking at the prospects but we could make some moves nothing’s off the table nhl draft begins Friday night.” Casey let’s start with the stick and pick situation for the Bruins right at seven overall this is a deep center draft which is perfect we know the cream of the crop is a defenseman but this is a deep center draft for the Bruins you’re sitting at seven you’re the person with the phone you’re making the call making the pick what are the prospects who are the prospects you’re watching for and who would you go with if you’re the Bruins so I will say the mock drafts over the past two weeks have narrowed it down to two guys Jake O’Brien and Porter Marone and Porter Martone is a name that we started seeing quite a bit a couple months ago kind of getting circulated in jake O’Brien has been like the loudest name thus far over the last week or so um I love both of these names one of them screams more ready than the other to me in terms of like are they going to utilize and develop this kid on the quicker end and make sure that he’s a part of the Bruins lineup sooner rather than later if that’s the case then they don’t have to make any emergency breaks or big sells when it comes to free agency frenzy July 1 on Tuesday so this is going to tell us how um let’s just say aggressive direction who’s more ready out of the two Martone or O’Brien in your opinion porter Mone yeah yeah i mean O’Brien just turned 18 last month no excuse me earlier this month it’s still June exactly so he’s going to be That’s the part that throws you for a loop he’s going to be 18 18 when he’s taking that next step in his progression what about Marone says to you that he’s ready for the NHL a number of things first of all you’re talking about a guy who’s 6’3 and 205 so Jake O’Brien hasn’t even hit that 200 lb weight limit so on 170 170 and again just turned 18 so you’re going to need to put weight on him you’re need to put strength on him and we already have guys you know Dean and then Mason Laurier joined Hockey Hub yesterday saying how he’s getting stronger so you don’t want to bring in somebody that that’s part of something that needs to be developed you’re looking at Porter Martone that already has some strength to him already has that size at 6’3 but more importantly it’s the NHL comparison to Cory Perry and it’s also his vision on the ice you’re talking about a guy that can slow down the game which is funny because we just talked about that on the basketball end of of things but Porto Martone can slow things down he’s really good at finding acknowledging and kind of simulating the rhythm of his line meets so somebody who has that ability to read you and set you up accordingly that’s brilliant as well because you can bring in a number of skilled players but if somebody can’t feed them the puck then there’s this disconnect and you’re just waiting to find that chemistry to come to life so that’s also a guy who I feel like chemistry comes in alignment with him very quickly also and we talked about this with another guy beforehand but this is somebody who loves to take on defenders he loves to challenge them he loves to toy with them which also creates time and space so he just has the ability to manipulate on both sides of the puck which is very exciting for me again coming in at 63205 love the fact that he has a younger sister that wants to be a D1 player it would be really sick to have Porter Morone here and I believe his sister’s name is Abby if she ends up joining into the Boston Fleet down the stretch it would just be another thing that would make Boston that much more exciting play some college hockey BC BEu Northeastern Harvard you know all the decent schools we got in the area yukon throughout Quinnipak too i like the Porter Marone when it’s the more immediate impact and exactly to your point where what they do at seven overall could tell us a lot about what the outlook is for a timeline porter Marone though you you list everything that is someone that could go top five so it could be okay what’s the pivot then if they’re staying at seven roger McQueen 651 190 he’s 19 really big skilled great mover good with the puck on his stick and he’s good in front of the net i think that’s an area that the Bruins really need to address in front of the net on both ends of the ice and that’s someone that could clear out space if a puck’s in front of him help out the goalie and on the other end know how to screen goalies know how to get in the way and be smart as a center and that’s a guy that’s 19 years old but again we talk about the weight we talk about the height jake O’Brien 170 he’s 6’2 so like he has to fill out that frame yeah i like the O’Brien call though because his vision his playmaking he is more of a creator as a center when you talk about Martone that’s more of a scorer as a center and his ability to take defenders on oneonone one-on-one mhm what’s good with the Bees is you wanted a top three pick for them for sure like if James Hagens was a Bruin like that was the dream i know if Michael Misa could become a Bruin that was the dream you wanted them top three top two they fall at seven but this is the draft if you’re not going to get where you wanted to to get a premier guy then at least it’s a deep center draft because there are the options on the back end caleb Denoer another center that they could end up taking at seven yeah and that’s another name that kind of just popped up so I believe Craig Button had him on the list for the Boston Bruins to pick up but kind of circling back to Jacob O’Brien if that ends up being the route that the Boston Bruins take then you’re looking at a promising future down the stretch here you’re talking about a guy that’s really keen on picking up assists 66 points through 66 games or 66 assists through 66 games so somebody who also just has like great vision with the setup and and on the puck they’re concerned about is skating i only point that out because that can be a different kind of development um there are some kids that they focus on skating all the way up until their teenage years and then they finally pick up the stick in the puck so it just takes a minute to figure out what that development will look like with his skating so that he can be even more effective pace-wise to set up for those assists yeah something else with Porter Marone is that now with a Marco Sturum at the helm for the Boston Bruins stellar two-way winger and that’s kind of becoming a little bit more of an identity for guys that can play out on the wing somebody who can have both roles and contribute on both sides of the ice a 200 foot game is another big identity to it so you want to have IQ you want to have less development than more development but more importantly that versatility to someone i also love the fact that Martona is a captain on his team and you just see a lot of maturity and great character to who he is how he’s spoken for his dad played in the OHL had him in it being drafted by the Buffalo Savers actually bringing that back into the loop so he kind of fits the bill and checks a lot of boxes in terms of like when you have a guy like Marco Sturm that sees the potential in his players that knows how to develop guys get them ready get them confident and then this kid already has such a leadership head on him and arsenal of skills i feel like he’d be a really good plug-andplay he would be and when you list all those attributes that Marco Sturm looks in that also is someone that Caleb Denoer that he falls into that good two-way player more of a creator than a scorer again at the center position 61 plus around 180 just 18 but that’s someone that you want to talk about reliable like that’s the word they use with a denoer and for something that what Marco Sturm preaches too and it’s a way of like that’s what they want to see from the bees on the ice power play wasn’t good enough the overall uh product on the ice was not good enough but you bring in someone that’s reliable that understands how to move the puck through the neutral zone is responsible with the puck and can play on both ends to help out their goalie you could play pay a goalender plenty of money if you don’t know how to help out your goalender especially Especially defensively it doesn’t matter what you’re paying them if they keep getting tough looks tough recovery tough bounces coming back at them a denoer a Martone to your point as we talk through these options like a Jake O’Brien that’s a long-term play and there’ll be other teams that that could serve yeah when a denoyer a Martone maybe a Roger McQueen as well that seems like a play for the Bruins where it’s someone that’s closer to being NHL ready and also someone that can play and have an impact on both ends it’s tough to look at a Jake O’Brien and again only 170 pounds very young looking at photos of him like not a speck of facial hair not a he has not hit that like real growth spurt like hit puberty and then there’s that second go when you’re in your college years everyone grows gets bigger stronger you gain a different sense of strength he hasn’t even hit that yet though so when that extra growth spurt comes in who knows from 62 170 Yeah could end up being 65 195 be a great player but you don’t want ifs right now if you’re the Bruins that’s the thing the fan base Yeah the fan base is is kind of asking for more of a solidified answer versus a what if or you know a speak to potential so there’s a gamble and then there’s an investment exactly and this will be a little bit more on the gamble side or again fitting that bright future bill because something else when it comes to O’Brien if you’re not going to try to like get him acclimated sooner rather than later which that’s not the case for this kind of guy uh power play a lot of his points are coming off of special teams later down the stretch after more development can come and alleviate or be a piece that you’re looking to get from him down the stretch is still worthwhile but this is what tells me that like if they went with an O’Brien they’re going to have to get a bit of a heavy hitter in the free agency we’re going to have to see a little bit more out of the two guys that they brought in this previous season as well so um that’s my only thing it’s going to be very telling to see what direction that they’re going in we’re still calling it a retool so I don’t know if this makes sense if we’re calling it a retool and there’s potential out there that can come in a little bit more you mentioned Denoir something else with him when you have these guys that are more creative than like always trying to take the goal themselves you look at a little bit too much of like play on the puck something that’s really nice about Noer is that he’s not always trying to get too many extra touches on the puck which just can cause a massive amount of turnovers especially with the pace of the game these days and that’s something that we saw a lot too we saw guys that are really creative but just holding on to the freaking puck too much so something else in the development asset if that’s somebody that has the maturity to be like “Okay I don’t need to get too fancy with this i can be creative without taking too many touches on the puck.” Then again the maturity of everything can show you quicker development a quicker fit for the Bruins down the stretch you think they’re locked in on a center because even if you look at how their lines break down now it could be Zaka Elias Landm Casey Middlestat their top nine centers right they’re top three centers in their top nine skating but there’s a guy like Apaval Zaka could play the wing but he plays so well next to Aposh elias Lindholm Casey Middlestat like Marco Sturm is uncommitted to them as centers you know I want to see them as players i want to see them as players and go from there you think same thing bruins are locked in on a center when it would come to that first round pick or is it more forward maybe someone versatility and it’s kind of a fit on what it could be overall i personally would almost go a versatile winger of some sort because like you said we saw especially down the stretch of the season and during the toughest time when you’re collecting loss after loss after loss we saw tremendous play out of Zako we saw uh Lynholm start to kind of come to life a bit more and we know the potential that Casey Middle has especially given the time with a team he really started to take off with the Colorado Avalanche when given the ice time you’re talking about somebody that can make things happen in the middle of the ice we saw glimmers of that over and over again so giving time in the offseason having a proper training camp I think they’re fine down the center plus I’m a big believer in Frasier Mitten and what he’s going to be able to bring to this lineup eventually so being able to kind of understand that the center group can do their job a versatile winger is just going to help like add value to everything you need somebody who can consistently bring pace and push pucks forward and help set up those plays because anytime that the puck got loose there was just never that polish off there was never that consistency outside of pasta of just making sure that they’re cleaning up the garbage and finding the back of the net i like the Frasier Minton mention i also think of a Will Zeers like he’ll plays college hockey at North Dakota State he’ll develop there that’s what I’m interested too whoever they go with do they end up coming up to the AHL save to Jake O’Brien or do you say “Hey go play American college hockey you’ve been playing junior hockey now make the leap towards playing American college hockey physically get better there and develop there.” We’ll see what the next steps are as

The 2025 NHL Draft begins tomorrow and the Boston Bruins currently possess the 7th overall pick. What prospect is headed to Boston? Will the Bruins trade the pick away? George Balekji & Kasey Hudson weigh in with their thoughts on the draft and how they believe the pick will pan out!

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