BRUINS SHOCKER? The No Name NHL MYSTERY Prospect Turning Heads in Boston! | Vashek Blanar

BRUINS SHOCKER? The No Name NHL MYSTERY Prospect Turning Heads in Boston! | Vashek Blanar

The Boston Bruins might have a diamond in the rough. Okay. The Boston Bruins might have the biggest steel of the 2025 NHL draft. Who says so? I do. The name on everybody’s lips out of Bruins development camp now that they actually know his name is Vashek Blar. Somehow this kid has come out of absolutely nowhere in the span of two weeks to being someone that Bruins fans just need to know more about. He was drafted 100th overall in the in the draft a few weeks ago. And when they drafted him, the Bruins didn’t even have a picture, no graphic to put up with the tweet. And everybody’s scrambling trying to find his, you know, elite prospects page and they couldn’t find it. There was nobody by the name of Vashek Blenar. And then after development camp, just a week and a half later, everyone’s saying, “Holy crap, the future might be Vashek Lenar. How did this happen? How on earth did this happen?” Well, he went by Vasek Richards for most of his life. Um, so that was what the elite prospect’s name was under. It is now under Vashek Blanar, by the way. Um, he’s Czech born or born in Colorado, but has Czech citizenship and he plays in Sweden. big left shot defenseman, 6’4, pretty skinny still, about 185 at 6’4, it’s really small. Just turned 18 in April. So very young, very raw prospect, playing over in Sweden, had 21 points in 38 games. But again, he’s the talk of dev camp. Adam Mcuade, who was running this camp for the Bruins scouting department, was absolutely raving about this kid and his willingness to play defense, his speed, his skating ability, the way he is on his edges. We hear that all the time in dev camp. You know, the how he is on his edges. And of course, what the Bruins tap into is this old picture of Vashek Blar. Oh man, just born to be a Bruin. Even recreated it at Dev Camp, wouldn’t you know? Look at that kid. just oozes Bruins. Oh man. And I gota I can’t lie to you guys. I’m no amateur scout or anything like that. I can’t take a ton from Dev Camp, but there’s videos just everywhere all over social media of this kid, Vashek Blar. And watching him, I’m like, man. It’s just drills, but like this kid can skate. For a a kid who’s just turned 18 and is 6’4, like still growing into his body, clearly skinny as a rail. Uh the kid can really skate. like stop and start. Um he’s nimble on the blue line. Of course, with these drills, he’s also going up against other Bruins prospects who are the worst prospect pool in the NHL. So, take that with a grain of salt. And he’s years away. We’re talking like three or four years away rather than one. Um but man, the hype around this kid is starting to build. And I think what the biggest thing is about it for Bruins fans is when was the last time we had a draft steel? Man, it’s been a long time. In fact, I really can’t even remember it. Obviously, like I’m talking like mid to late round steel. Like Patrice Berseron, Brad Marian, second round picks and Cichi was a third round pick. I mean, we’re going back 20 years there. And for those guys to become Hall of Famers at where they were drafted is certainly wild. But this is a 100th overall pick in the draft. The only thing I could come close in the Don Sweeny era was Jeremy Swayman being a third round pick. uh was also Hockey East goalender of the year at Maine. So, it’s not like he snuck up on a ton of people. Vashek Blanar would certainly fit that mold as a fourth round pick, 100th overall kind of guy. Um if if he’s able to to become a player for this Bruins team, certainly in the mold of a Mason Lorai. Um you know, big tall left shot defenseman with all kinds of offensive upside. Um certainly Blar is a little bit uh how do I say this? a little bit more polished for his level defensively. Obviously very raw and probably not as polished as Mason Lorai, but in terms of the competition that he’s playing against, um he is a little bit more sound defensively than Mason Loai was even in college um at Ohio State. But this has Bruins fans absolutely buzzing. And I think this development camp has Bruins fans absolutely buzzing because it’s the first time in a while that we’ve had like legit prospects that are going to play on the team in a couple of years. Like recently it’s been, you know, can we get one of these guys up to the big club? you know, Lizelle and Patra and Mulov and I guess Lori a little bit a few years ago, but it was most it was mostly like, can any of these guys play? You know, can any of these guys play at the NHL level? Now, you’ve got a little bit more hope. It’s it’s years down the line, but when you look at obviously James Higgins was there, Will Zeers, who I’m really excited about, the goal scorer, the guy who set the the record for USHL goals in the season this past year, got him in the Charlie Coyle trade from Colorado. That could be a huge deal. He’s going to North Dakota next year. Um Dean Lerno apparently looked better at this camp, which he needs to as a first round pick last year. Um Will Moore was there, another BC kid. and Vashek Blar. Vashek Blar is is really taking over in all of it. In the camp that had Will Zers and and James Hagens, Vashek Blar is the guy that everybody’s talking about. Um Alvin Buoa apparently was there. Um the main goalie who who they’ve got the rights to. So that’ll be pretty interesting. But it’s really just a breath of fresh air that for the first time in God only knows, man. I mean, seven or eight years maybe that there’s any hope of like, oh, these guys could be a part of our future, right? Like Matthew Potra maybe, but Lysel and Merculov and, you know, I don’t know, some of these other guys, you weren’t like, oh, these going to be big parts of the Bruins future. The future’s in good hands right now. see a lot of young, very young, very raw players out there, but you do think these guys are going to be part of this of this future of this team’s rebuild. Zellers, Hagens, knock on wood, hopefully LNO, um Vashek Blar, Will Moore, hopefully he’s another guy who’s super raw. They picked in the second round um that’s going to BC. like those are guys that you think realistically can be a part of the building blocks for your future. So, it feels good. It feels like a change of pace, man. We’re finally talking Bruins prospects in something of a good light. But again, don’t expect Vlack Blar to be up here in in Boston playing for the spoke B uh for quite a while. I would say three or four years. Uh probably three years. And that’s probably the timeline you’re looking at for LNO and Will Moore as well. Um, Hagens is probably the only one that comes up from that development camp within the next year. I I absolutely see a world where Hagens obviously goes back to Boston College. I don’t think there’s much of a question about that, even though he hasn’t said it. Um, but I see a world where James Hagens is back at BC this year, has a tremendous year after they get knocked out before the Frozen Four because it’s what BC does. Um, he’ll be up with the Bruins for the last couple of weeks of the season. I I absolutely can see that. I don’t think the Bruins will be in a playoff push and it would be kind of house money. Bring them up, see what the kids got. So, uh it’s finally good to uh to be excited about this prospect pool and possibly having the steel of the draft and Vashek Blanar. I’m I’m drinking the Kool-Aid way too hard. Let me know what you guys think in the comments section below about this Bruins prospect pool, about the Bruins draft, and how it looks going forward. who who are you most excited to see actually hit on the ice here in North America? Whether it’s for the Providence Bruins, USHL, NCAA, let me know in the comments section below. Be sure to like the video and subscribe to the channel if you are hopeful for the Bruins future. And you can find us here live on YouTube every weekday high, noon Eastern time, and then wherever you get your podcasts as well. Check out the other videos on the channel talking Bruins, talking draft, Bruins prospects, and everything else going on in the world of Boston sports. I’m your host, Cam Stewart. Zack Burke keeps us on the air. We will see you tomorrow on another episode of a little diddy that we’d like to call the Cam Show.

The Boston Bruins surprised many by selecting Vasek Blanar (also known as Vasek Richards) with the 100th overall pick in the fourth round of the 2025 NHL Draft. Unlisted in many prominent draft guides, Blanar immediately became a “mystery pick” that left fans and analysts scratching their heads. However, his performance at the recent 2025 Bruins Development Camp quickly turned doubters into believers!

Analysts at camp, like Jack Studley of Black N’ Gold Hockey, called him the “most surprising (and maybe exciting) player” and even the “best defenseman on multiple days.” They highlighted his impressive skating for a 6’4″ frame, offensive flair, and surprising defensive poise, despite being considered raw. Bruins Player Development Coordinator Adam McQuaid was also reportedly “impressed by Blanar’s defensive skills,” noting he shows “solid defensive traits despite being raw.”

This unexpected standout performance from Blanar, coupled with the Bruins landing high-impact players like James Hagens (7th overall) in the draft, has ignited a new optimism. After years of a seemingly barren prospect cupboard, the strong showing from their 2025 class suggests the Bruins might actually have some real, intriguing prospects in the pipeline, hinting at a brighter future!

#VasekBlanar #BostonBruins #NHLDraft #Prospects #BruinsDevCamp #AdamMcQuaid #DraftSteal #NHL #HockeyProspects #BruinsFuture

0:00 Bruins’ potential draft steal: Vashek Blanar

3:04 Comparing Blanar to past Bruins draft steals

5:06 Promising prospects at Bruins development camp

6:38 Timeline for prospects joining the Bruins

8:09 Outro and invitation for viewer feedback

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