Who Will the Bruins Take in 2025 NHL Draft? | Bruins Beat

Who Will the Bruins Take in 2025 NHL Draft? | Bruins Beat

and welcome into the Bruins Beat presented by Prize Fix go use that promo code CLNS to get $50 back when you play your first $5 projections and we’re also presented by CLNS Media make sure to go subscribe to Bruins Ringside on YouTube for all that great content we got a live stream this Friday night reacting to the NHL draft carl Corzini is returning maybe the white the white board will be here hopefully there will you know maybe we’ll break down James Hagen’s uh neutral his his offensive zone entries maybe uh how he could be better in the you know in the neutral zone things like that um and then obviously make sure to go subscribe to us wherever you get your podcast bruins beat Poke the Bear Pucks with Hags on Apple Podcast Spotify Podbean wherever uh and make sure to go also check out CLS’s other great content celtics Celtics all access Garden Report they were still doing Garden Report during the NBA Finals which like that’s dedication uh and Patriots a lot of Patriots press pass go subscribe to them on YouTube um or wherever you get your podcast so Connor what is up Evan i’m doing well how you doing doing great i’m feeling refreshed i am back from Hilton Head i’m back from Savannah we were saying before we recorded you told me before I went you’re like you are going to eat a lot you are going to come home feeling fat and uh Lord knows that is exactly what happened i will say it is really hot down there so good amount of walking uh but the the southern food that southern comfort food man it hits like it it tastes good and the ice cream it’s rich i mean so is every ice cream but it was just good i had a fun time i enjoyed it leold Leopold’s ice cream that’s right we waited we waited in a very long line for Leopolds at like 2:30 3:00 in the afternoon on a Friday it was so hot um but it was also so worth it i mean it was just fantastic ice cream so it was I I recommend the trip it is the issue when you ever you go especially somewhere down south Gnome for its cooking uh especially like in the summertime right because I feel like that’s usually when at least you and I are most free it’s like all right well we’re free from like June through like middle of August so like now is the ideal time to go to Charleston or New Orleans or something like that and I remember I went to New Orleans in the middle of July and all the hotels like like wicked nice hotels were going for like one 120 bucks a night like that what a great deal i wonder why and then you walk out and it’s literally like 110 degrees like humidity is awful but at the time you’re like “All right well I can eat like this entire skillet of cinnamon rolls and like with a fried chicken wing on top and be like “Oh like I’m going to walk this off.” It’s not true like it’s like it’s like the president being like you got a battery on your body and like you can only like you can’t work out because you’re gonna use up all your battery power it’s a flawed thinking thinking you can eat like a whole thing of cinnamon rolls walk in like uh you know humidity for 10 minutes and you’re good to go you’re ready for round two it’s not how it happens no the best thing though about areas like that are is every Uber is like the lowest temperature possible and every store has AC every restaurant every bar like we went into this one like dueling piano bar and it’s like the line’s huge and like you look inside and I’m like they they definitely don’t have AC like it’s going to be 100,000 degrees in there and they did it was actually really comfortable so fun trip fun times but I will say Connor it allowed me to clear my head while I was there and I was able to think things maybe differently took some time away from hockey Bruins draft all that stuff and I this thought kept coming to me as I was refreshing myself at the beach and I it sort of been percolating for months and it really came to the forefront over the last couple days um I we’ve talked about this the Bruins core Post Makavoy Swayman uh are either in or entering their primes they’re all at least at the very beginning of what we hope their primes uh will be uh so are Elias Lindholm so is Hampus Lindholm those guys are signed long term they’re also not going anywhere not all those players no moves like you you can’t really get rid of those guys uh except for Swayman right now i think you technically could it would have to be though until like once next season starts it kicks in yeah like that’s when that whole thing kicks in but anyway your core is the age that it is which is contending age uh for when you’d want to be a contending team and I see these trade rumors uh I think it was one of the Empty Netters guys uh tweeted out you know oh hearing the Islanders want to get back into the top 10 and they’re interested in the Bruins number seven pick and that’s been a a rumor we’ve heard a lot about over the last you know week or so and I do wonder if they trade that seventh pick for a player who is around the same age as Makavoy Post Swayman who is um you know maybe a year or two left on their cont on their current contract who can step into the top six or step in to be an impact guy on D i look at the Islanders obviously Noah Dobson’s the huge one i think he’s doing a contract is it next year I believe yeah um and he’s an impact he’s a That’s a top four that’s a borderline top pairing that is a top pairing right shot defenseman um Matt Barzal is a popular name up front that kepts getting keeps getting thrown around how funny would that be but and I’m not saying that like I’m for it or against it but I wouldn’t be shocked if they did it because that core that they have wants to win now and they talk about this sort of retool and we talked about this with Jason Robertson would you do Jason Robertson for number seven and the more I think about it it’s like I I I wouldn’t be shocked if they did trade that pick for or if we hear a lot about them potentially looking to trade that number seven pick for an established NHL player who can help them win games next season yeah the Bruins are going to trade for Methy Barzal and they’re going to sign Brock Basser just to be like “Look guys we made up on 2015 you guys happy now we did it we did it.” I I don’t know if that would go uh over all that well but no I mean I think when you look at the trade rumors and everything surrounding the Bruins and it’s not just um the Islanders rumors have been going on for about a week now but you’ve seen it with uh as you said the Jason Robertson uh discussion you’ve seen it with like Marty Nas Elias Person someone like that who’s been rumored to be out there and the Bruins are I think a natural team to to link all those trade candidates to because as you said the Bruins are in this weird spot where you know it it feels like especially after the trade deadline they mapped out like all right it’s going to be a two three year we hope retool where we can stay the course we can accumulate draft picks we can really build up our uh our next wave of talent that’s all well and good and like I don’t think you can like begrudge the Bruins for taking that approach of like restocking their system you already have Bruins fans who are thrilled over Will Zeers right they haven’t probably seen like all of five segments of of the guy’s uh footage and again he’s been really really good in the US they even followed him out in Minnesota the the Bruins social media team so they’re clearly building up the hype with that guy and I think Bruins fans has an appetite for this next wave of young talent but they’re in this weird spot where as you said um you also have to if you’re not hitting on these draft picks and let’s say it’s not a two three year retool but it’s you know four to five years then yeah you’re you’re squandering a window right now where you do have guys like Posanok and Makavoy and you know swimming in their prime right now so uh it’s a tough spot to be in you can I think make a compelling case for you know both ways right of staying the course just getting your draft picks um you know developing taking the slow and steady approach there because we’ve also have seen many times where a team kind of rips the band-aid off except they’re kind of going into a few lean years and then get impatient and then cash in too early right we’ve seen that all the all these times where like you know you feel like Detroit had a few really promising draft picks right they got like Cider Raymond some of those players and then they like showed like they were taking a step forward and then they like blow all their money on third line type players guys that don’t move the needle and now they’re kind of back in no man’s land i think you saw it a few years ago with Columbus where they kind of had a lot of young players coming in then they kind of accelerate a little bit it feels like now they’re on the right track again right where they’re slow and steady we got all these younger players let’s not let’s not mess around with anything let’s let them marinate continue to develop and we’re in a good spot we got to figure out the goalending situation but we’re not freaking out and trading Fantelli or Cylinger you know someone like that for John Gibson right that if that happens then you can clip that but I feel like they they’ve learned their lesson right of taking that approach but also some of those guys Marenko is their best player and he’s what 25 david Pos 28 going on 29 I think right now so I get it that the Bruins I think are trying to be aggressive trying to check off you know both boxes right of developing internally while also finding ways to help out the team right now and you can make the case yeah you go and trade for a Noah Dobson that’s a guy that can be a power play quarterback a 55 plus point defenseman 20 plus minutes a night that maybe offers you more value than when you get in the number seven pick same thing we say with Jason Robertson like he’s 25 going on 26 40 goal scorer marty Nas uh all these players can help you out right now and for the future but I think uh I talked about this with Tai last week on Poke the Bear where it’s almost like I would rather give up future draft capital and do whatever you can to keep this number seven pick if like Jason Robertson for example there was that rumor of like they want Dallas wants something similar to the Miko Rantin trade where it’s like two future first twothirds and a young player i’d give up Toronto Florida’s pick i’d give up another future first whatever it may be but if you can do something like that and acquire a player while giving up those future assets that you’ve also accumulated yourself through the trade deadline and keep that number seven pick I would do that because yeah you can make the case that you know uh James Hagens or Roger McQueen or Jake O’Brien Brady Martin they’re not a lock to be an impact player but they could be and even if like you know to what we’ve said I feel like for months now even if Jake O’Brien or Brady Mton or one of these guys is like a second line center well I’ll take the second line center that gives you 65 points and is on a cheap deal is a homegrown guy right like I think you’re still getting a valuable piece there with that number seven pick especially when you look at how many centers are right there so again I won’t begrudge the Bruins for I think trying to do something to help them win now and for the future but I would try to do uh I’d try to move heaven and earth i would say to you know not give up that number seven pick in any deal even if it means a lot of picks down the road that’s my big thing I keep going back to is I I want them to make that pick they should make that seventh pick um you think about you know what they went through this past year how bad they were how barren the prospect pipeline is like they and and I do think your best chance at a potential franchise number one center is a top 10 draft pick in a draft where yeah maybe there isn’t that McDavid or uh celebriny level superstar but there are a number of centers that you can pick from we’re seeing that in all these rankings which we’ll get into in a bit and we’ve talked about for months now of like you know the amount of centers who even at seven could still be available to them who could be someday top six regulars um at center so that to me is the biggest thing is like I don’t want to give up the seventh pick i’m with I’m also with you on this i would trade the future firsts if it means getting impactful players that can help you win now and suddenly you know your your draft pick this year comes up in two to three years makes an impact in four to five and they’re you know a young the sort of the youngest uh level of the core with guys like Makavoy and Posternok and the Lind Holmes and everything like that whereas if you go at the rate that you’re going at and you don’t make any trades right like this seventh pick this year whether it’s Higgins O’Brien whoever they’re not going to be the youngest you’re going to have guys coming for a while and that might be great and all and I like I like that idea but look at who you currently have look at your roster like this is where we talk about all the time the Bruins are in such a weird spot because I do think they have a roster that when healthy should contend at least for the playoffs and those guys want to and you don’t want to get in a situation where you know two years from now Postronox’s like I want out i don’t want to be like I’m 30 31 years old i want to compete i want to I want to contend for a Stanley Cup i saw Brad Marshed having a blast down in South Florida i want out like you you do not want that to happen and not saying that drafting all these players is going to equate to that but I do think there’s still a little bit of a pressure to contend with the roster that you have so the more I see these trade rumors of different guys like would you do a Noah Dobson for number seven deal and like or like you know Barzal for number seven like I’m not completely shooting them down i want them to make those picks but I’d much rather if you’re going to if you’re going to acquire Noah Dobson and I don’t think I don’t think uh New York would be interested in this like of a f of future first but I’d rather them do it with future firsts than the number seven pick and also what I would say to the the Islanders is like I don’t think there’s a guarantee that Hagens is there at seven we’ll get to that in a bit because Bob McKenzie’s uh final rankings came out and interesting stuff um but I you know again like they they do they have a roster and they have guys locked up long term that can’t be moved unless they want to wave that no move those no moves um there I think there is sort of a little bit of a pressure to contend and not win now like as in the cup but be a competitive team yeah i mean I I think especially with that number seven pick uh listen a lot can also go wrong next year right like whether it’s more injuries if swimming continues to struggle if there’s growing pains all that stuff but I think we’re at least in the same wavelength Evan where it feels like or at least maybe we’re just hoping maybe we’re just manifesting this that this past year was the bottoming out process where in a perfect world like I’m not saying the Bruins are going to bounce back and you know be uh first or second in the Atlantic next year no but like they should be better they could potentially be pushing for a playoff spot maybe what I’m saying is that barring catastrophe I don’t think the Bruins are going to be like tanking for McKenna i don’t think they’re going to be in a for a top 10 pick things can change hell maybe they’ll be like Utah where like they come just short of the playoffs but then they just fall into a number four pick that’d be great but this number seven pick I think offers you for right now can’t read in the future your best chance of you know adding a legitimate top 10 center into your your pipeline like those opportunities don’t come around that often i know this draft is not stacked but if this is your one opportunity to bring in someone whether that’s a guy with a high floor like a Martin or a a you know throwing a dot at the dot board like Roger McQueen who has a lot of red flags but could be a really impactful player like and this is your opportunity if you’re the Bruins of like hey yeah there’s there’s no guarantee but like yeah you guys don’t want the 65 centerman who was going to be a top three pick before he hurt his back and was doing pull-ups and everything during uh the combine like I feel like Sam Bennett couldn’t even do a pull-up s do a pull up in his combine i mean maybe that’s actually a requirement though that you know if you do pull-ups you’re not that good even though I would say probably Char has something to say about Vag i think he would do like 50 on the first every year but if this is your one opportunity if you’re the Bruins um to add a center yeah I would give up the future first i would give up uh you know you do run that risk of like if you would say you included like your 2026 first there’s a lot more risk involved right where it’s like you better be a better team than you were last year but if that pick ends up being you know 14 to 18 as opposed to things bottoming out again and it’s a top five pick or something like that um you do have to weigh that risk but I would do whatever I could to keep that seven pick because I think this is your one opportunity you hope it’s your one opportunity i mean things are going well if it’s your only opportunity to to add a center with a top 10 pick you hope that I think if you’re the Bruins you hope that you can get another team let’s say you’re in negotiations for Noah Dobson let’s say or a Marty Nas you sort of hope that you can get a team to say uh man you the Bruins were terrible in 24-25 they don’t have a legit number one center they don’t you know Swayman’s question marks with him i don’t think the roster’s good they’re they’re rebuilding i’m going to take a chance and go for that 2026 first round pick that could end up being a lottery pick or higher than number seven like you need you hope that a team if you’re the Bruins you hope that a team looks at your 2026 first says actually that’s really valuable because respectfully you suck so I think that that to me that’s their best negotiation chip seven Seven’s a high pick like you we’ve said it so many times that is your best chance uh to get a franchise number one center uh and do at the very least get someone who should be a legitimate part of your roster um in a couple years for a long time so we’ll see what they end up doing with that pick uh trading it we’ll get into who we think they’re going to pick because this is the last week the draft is Friday and then Saturday’s rounds two through seven and can you believe it it’s like all this month’s buildup finally um on Friday i keep going back to I’m glad that this draft is actually interesting like the the common uh summary or description of this draft is unpredictable after picks one and probably two could go anywhere can go absolutely anywhere and I think that’s what makes this uh talking about it so fun uh before though we get into who the Bruins might pick our friends over at Prize Pick on Prize Pick you can mix and match player projections from different sports combine your favorite players from baseball or soccer with esports and when hockey comes back around you can do hockey as well uh and much much more prize Pix invented the Flex Play which means you can still cash out if your lineup isn’t perfect you can double your money even if one of your picks doesn’t hit and Prize Pick they put their members first so all withdrawals are fast safe and secure when my picks hit I can get my money in as quick as 15 minutes and boy do I like to see that i’ll say this you’re probably watching or listening to this on a Tuesday and Taco Tuesday is one of my favorite things discounted projections from 15 to 25% off i talk about it all the time i love Taco Tuesday they also have Flex Friday which is phenomenal as well so you want to get on the action download the app today and use code CLNS to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup again that’s code CLNS to get $50 instantly after you play your first $5 lineup prize picks run your game run your game over at prize pickics and again it’s baseball’s really the only show in town right now among the professional sports so make it more interesting make it more fun uh with our friends over at prize picks um so in terms of who the Bruins might pick everyone’s putting out their final mock drafts their final uh draft rankings and they’re all different the Athletic has one thing elite Prospects has another this one has that it’s a mix of McQueen and Brady Martin and Jake O’Brien and all these different ones but uh Bob McKenzie who usually big insider has a lot of friends in high places uh did his N his draft ranking and I think it’s a mix of you know his what he thinks and also what scouts and GMs are talking about had James Hagens at number seven had James Haggins at number seven how just before we dive into this how insane would it be if the Bruins actually do end up with James Hagens at seven you better have that clip ready to go Evan i swear to God if if they announce that they got James Hagens and you don’t fire that tweet off within like a minute you got to you know it will do numbers you got to do it well I always think about like and I was thinking about it like the the context of that was um well Jeremy Swayman’s contract negotiations are going south send him to San Jose get their 2025 first in return they’re still gonna suck they’ll be like the first or second pick in the draft and you draft change actually correct they were Yeah we did we were correct they should have been the first overall pick but nonetheless we corre we we correctly predicted that the Shocks are going to suck bold take i know and also we corrected Yeah we predicted that James Higgins goes to the Bruins with geniuses here well I think it’s one of those Remember back in uh like your our school days in math class and you get the right answer but you got there the wrong way i never got the right answer in math that’s why that’s why I’m a writer Evan i was I was in the same boat where I didn’t Well this happened to me quite a bit when I did get the right answer the teacher would look at it and she’d go “Uh huh how did you get here?” And I’ I’d show my work and she’d say “That’s wrong how did that doesn’t even make sense but you still got there i still got to give you credit.” So if they pick Hagens that’s what it is we we finagled away back then and the real way they got there was they just stunk and Hagens Hagens didn’t have the year that he maybe we all thought he would have at BC and suddenly he falls to seven um if they if if they are in a position we talked about this last week uh whose mock draft was it i forget whose mock draft we talked about was it Bob McKenzie’s it was last week there was the mock drafts all blended together was it Craig Buttons it might have been Craig Buttons roger roger McQueen’s had uh I think the Athletic had Roger McQueen going to the Bruins on I think it was Cory Prodman’s last one and then I think Craig Button had I forget if he had the Bruins take him but I think he had Higgins at like eight or nine yes there was one that Higgins went to the Sabres at nine the Bruins took McQueen I think and Martone went to the Kraken at 8 i think that was the one we talked about last week um but if there is a situation in which Higgins is on the board at seven and obviously like we joke um like I’ve covered Hagens so I think you know I I like obviously I I like the kid I like the player you know I’ve seen him develop a little bit um so obviously there is that sort of bias towards it not bias but like I I know him better than I know other prospects so it it it it helps if he’s there at seven that’s who you take like if James Hagens is there at seven sure there you know he didn’t have the season that Will Smith had his freshman year sure he could be a little bit of a perimeter player at times and there were times I didn’t notice him this past season but the skating the skill the hockey sense the hands the playmaking I you can’t I I think it’s almost indefensible to pass on a guy like that if he’s there at number seven yeah it’s it all goes down to And again I agree like I think Higgins is a legitimate prospect a guy that has all the potential to be a top six uh centerman an impactful centerman uh up at the next level uh I get the concerns and I think we’ve talked about them right to your point you know maybe you wanted to see a little bit more from him he is maybe more of a skilled player and I think especially when you look at how Brady Mton’s jumped up the the draft rankings you see like what Sam Bennett’s doing i think there is probably some teams that now are I don’t know if tricking the Kool-Aid is the right term but they’re like ah like Hagens is a good feel like you have a bunch of the guys like the guys from Moneyball they’re all sitting in a boardroom like James Hagen’s a good player but can can we win with the guy and I I I think that’s probably like a legitimate like you know price stance is like Hagens is skilled but do you win with that type of player right who’s Fabio yeah exactly sounds like an Oakland A already uh but no I do think that if especially at number seven overall if you’re able to get a guy like Hagens who was the consensus number one going into the year was still a point per game player in Hockey East had you know set was it the all-time scoring record for a you was it a U8 tournament U8 Yep yep us a record previously set by uh this guy uh do you remember his name uh he’s like a Russian guy oh that guy yeah I’ve heard of him a couple times um again is he like the perfect player no if like the Bruins drafted James Haggin you know like uh 985 like Felgar and Mass are gonna be like he’s soft BC guy local backyard didn’t leave dropped a guy with some balls like we know we know what it’s going to be but in terms of the value of I could I could take down James Hagens in a one-on-one like the I get the narrative i get the concern but especially at number seven where you dropped further than you were expecting to be in the draft if you’re bringing in a guy who has that level of skill uh that level of you know skating ability where you can create entries make something happen out of nothing especially on a Bron scene that had to work so hard to generate anything not even like cash in on chances generate high danger looks to bring in a guy like Hagens who I think has all the the ability to be a 50 plus point guy at BC next year and then could maybe jump in and match and help you out right away at number seven you take that type of player especially in today’s NHL where yeah maybe everyone’s now looking at the physical Sam Bennett all those things the NHL is not the league as a whole is not going to go into uh more physicality and more grit and Braun like it’s going to keep on getting faster and more skilled you know who tried getting uh bigger and you know prioritize size was the 2024 25 Bruins and they sucked and they couldn’t catch up with anyone so if a guy like James Haggins is there you take him especially at number seven you take him now here’s my thing i don’t think he’s there the more I read like I read these rankings I I you can read the tea leaves um you see this every year guys trend up guys trend down you know who’s the hot new name brady Martin clearly is that right now and might he might he might be gone by seven i mean you know Utah seems to be a popular spot for him at four or does Philly take him at six um to me I like I I still don’t imagine I still can’t see Hagens getting to seven i just can’t fathom it i I don’t even see him getting past Nashville at five um like I just I I I don’t um and again if he’s there at seven great take him but I think when you’re talking realistic guys who probably will more than likely be available to the Bruins at seven I think you’re looking at Roger McQueen i think you’re looking at Jake O’Brien i think may like like maybe Brady Martin maybe if he does like I you know there it seems like he’s trending higher than seven right now but there are rank there’s still a lot of rankings that have him 10th 12th ninth seventh like sort of all over the place so those three does Porter Marone fall to you at seven like I think those are sort of the four names Victor Ecklan do they sort of reach for him potentially um you know Does Denoier fall to you at at seven um but I think the most likely ones No I’m just kidding that’s right schaefer i think the most likely ones are you know you’re looking at O’Brien you know Jacob O’Brien Roger McQueen um I want to say Brady Martin but I don’t know if I like it’s hard to tell with him but maybe um I still think they go Jake O’Brien i think that’s the guy who’s there at seven i think he fills a lot of the needs i’m not he’s not the guy that gets me the most excited i think the most excited one would be like Hagens if he fell to you realistically um but I think O’Brien but the more I read stuff Connor the more I could see them taking McQueen the more I could see them taking Roger McQueen and I don’t like that because I think that’s a big swing in a big spot but the more mock drafts I read like wouldn’t shock me if they went the McQueen route so I will preface this by saying that my prediction I feel like changes every couple of days so I think when we did our our mock one uh a week ago I had Hagens going to the the Bruins that was great i’m tweaking it a little bit now and I think I’ve changed it also when I uh spoke with Tai about it so again forgive me but again this draft is so all over the place that I feel like it does change my prediction is that at number seven the Bruins are going to have the option of taking either James Haggins or Roger McQueen and they’re gonna take Roger McQueen i I could see it i like I You hear a lot I’m gonna ask I’m gonna ask Carl to drive over his whiteboard to me just so I can smash it over my leg for when that happens i think you’re hearing a lot of like the Bruins uh with McQueen i think they like the player i think if they are convinced that he’s healthy they look at him as a guy that is a matchup nightmare a guy that is a probably top three pick if he was healthy and played the whole year who’s going to be over point per game guy like if he was healthy maybe he has the same stat line as Jake O’Brien right like 98 points 100 points 65 skilled um and again I’m not feel like I’m just now representing the Roger McQueen camp getting the stock jumping up but I could see the Bruins especially if let’s say it is Hagens or McQueen and I really like James Hagens and I would I would pick between those two I would pick James Higgins because I think he’s just got the the uh say you’re picking James H yes but I could see the Bruins in that spot whether it’s the the shifting narrative about like who you can win with or like if this is your number seven pick and you ideally aren’t going to be there you go for the guy that has legitimate franchise star potential i would argue that James Haggins is a franchise potential player as well if it was like McQueen or Britty Mottton or someone like that I could see him off for the upside you know or even you know maybe like Denoier who I think is a really good player but like he’s maybe more of a really really good 2C as opposed to McQueen like has risk but could be a 1C my prediction is Yeah I’m going to say they take McQueen and Hagens is still there but I know this hearkening back to what you said about O’Brien i feel like O’Brien is like the the one that has the least amount of criticism that you can lob at them right where he’s maybe not the most exciting but has like the high-end potential was almost 100 point player this past year is 6’2 can fill out his frame is known as being a really smart player really good playmaker uh good potential to be a good two-way centerman like I think he’s going to be a couple years away because he’s really going to add on some weight and develop a little bit more but I feel like that’s the the safest option right where like maybe like say this in terms of there’s not as much criticism we can throw at them like Brady Martin I think is a safe player to take but it’s also like well is he just the highest floor type of player chie number seven pick on that jacob Bryan almost had 100 points and could be a really impactful like playmaking 2C maybe even a 1C like he’s got that ability in him so I feel like that is the safest option if you’re the Bruins but I don’t know i feel like he’s going to go a little bit higher than the the Bruins uh you know at either five or six and I feel like it’s going to be Haynes or McQueen that’ll be that’s my prediction for right now ask me tomorrow when I change my my opinion but I’m going to say we’re I I’m going to try I’ve already changed my opinion a ton on this draft because I think we’re getting different information i had an NHL scout tell me something interesting on McQueen that I that I thought was like a an apt uh observation every team doctor right now every team’s medical staff is being put on the spot with a guy like McQueen can what what are his physicals is he good enough to go what do you think of his back because I think I read this in your story his back injury started in 23 24 which like Jesus so like he had a 70point season as like a 16 he did he did he he has all the makings of like a legit firstline center it’s just that back injury is scary and I think with these with these uh you know if the Bruins team doctors are like “No he’s good.” Like “We we think he’s fine take the chance.” The other thing with McQueen the min the Minnesota Wilds they actually they put on Hulk hands they keep on punching him in the back and it’s like “Tell us when it hurts.” That’s right they break him in half to like get up there and get out our physician Bane will look at you now that’s right he’s going to throw you up and smash you um the four nation space off it’s time to shoot you up with chemicals that will set you back 100 years um so the other thing though that you have to consider with McQueen and the Bruins and it ties into Sweeny’s future is he signs that extension he has like three years left could it be the final three years is this sort of that final Hail Mary like where it’s like we need to hit on a number one center as soon as humanly possible and I remember Chris Peters coming on this show and saying out of all the centers in the in the in the top 10 you know he’s the one McQueen’s the one guy that is probably you know if he hits is a legit franchise cornerstone third you know one of 32 franchise centerman and yeah like that’s the the kind of guy he is if he hits and do the Bruins say you know what we’re going to swing for the fences on this now again it’s such a boomer bust because if that hits then you’re set roger McQueen is playing with Postron in three you know four years and he’s putting up goddy numbers whereas if he misses and it’s like holy crap this kid’s back you know he can’t even stand up like his back is brutal he can’t play or he’s not good and suddenly we’re sitting here years from now or three years from now going well you know who should be the next Bruins GM you know who should be the next AGM like that that that cleans out a staff so like do they want to take that risk maybe they do maybe it’s Sweeney saying “We’re just gonna go for it we are gonna go for it here and if it doesn’t work out screw it.” Like I’ve been here a long time anyway so that’s I’m here for a good time not a long time exactly i’m here for a good yolo as the kids would say back when we back when you were a kid can you imagine if Sweeney goes up to the the the podium after they draft goes yolo and then McQueen yolo roger McQueen sound like [ __ ] yolo would be like them like taking like uh like Carter Bear that would be YOLO at number seven like yeah that’s what they did that’s what they said when they took Zack Sen at 15 which by the way not to like beat the dead horse here one activity I did early last week before going on vacation was I went back and looked at 2015 mock drafts like where people had people going and like in one Brandon Carlo was like a late first um Jake De Brusk was universally kind of a late first as well like 20s early 20s um Zaboro was like 16 to 19 he was the considered the safest pick out of that whole group yes yes sen was like a second sometimes a third round pick in a lot of these mock drafts so like looking back and looking at and there was one I forget which mock draft it was it doesn’t matter now but there was one that actually missed like the because it was pre-trade so I think the Bruins just had the 13th pick and I forget who they had them taking but it was a miss and I just found it funny like they still found a way in the mock draft to miss um but I it’ll be interesting to see years from now looking back on what we’re saying now looking back at these mock drafts and being like how did we miss on this guy how did they not take this guy but I keep if Hagens is there man like don’t overthink it don’t overthink it at all i know you and I will talk more about uh who they might pick on Poke the Bear later this week by the way if you want to go and watch Poke the Bear watch Bruins beat watch Pucks with Hags I can tell you this i I I don’t I forget i don’t know what Hags’s take is on the draft or his latest take at least um and who he wants i imagine he probably wouldn’t want Hagens i don’t know like I don’t want to speak for Hags um so you’ll hear a different perspective which is always fun make sure to go subscribe to Burns Rankside on YouTube subscribe wherever you get your podcasts um and also make sure to go subscribe to all of CLNS’s awesome content over at Celtics All Access the CLNS Media Network’s main YouTube channel and Patriots Press Pass lots of great stuff um throughout those off seasons uh different personalities if you like the Patriots and the Celtics so make sure to go do all of that um little news on Monday bruins uh ressigned pending RFA Mason Lorai two years 3.2 million AAV um I’m fine with it i’m fine with this deal uh it’s kind of what we expected shortterm prove it you know is he going to be a you know is his next deal going to be a good long-term one are you going to have to cut bait um and also like 3.2 million is not an insane number it’s edible in a trade like if you wanted to package him for a much better player in a year or so it’s possible with that money so I don’t have any issue with this deal do you yeah not uh surprising in terms of being a bridge deal cv can recoup his value and set himself up for a nicer payday down the road um feel like a lot of especially RFAS maybe are opting more for bridge deals anyway when you look at how much the cap’s going to jump up not just this year but I think I saw a new report a few uh days ago i think it might have been like Chris Johnston where he said like the cap might jump up even more where we’re looking at 118 to 121 million another two years like guys are going to get paid and I think you’re even seeing that now that you’re seeing the Mitch Marner stuff with the Yeah you’re seeing like whether that’s going to happen where some of these free agents just signed two three years and then cash in again um I’m sure these guys that now signed eight-year deals like two three years ago are probably like damn [ __ ] uh but I I do think um when you look at Mason Laurai yeah makes a lot of sense uh when you’re getting a bridge deal with a player like that the 3.2 I thought it was going to be probably a little bit lower like two two and a half but I also you see how much the cap is jumping up not surprising lock him in and then yeah it’s all comes down to what he does moving forward i think you like the potential of Laurai but when you’re looking at guys on this Bruins team that need to bounce back under Marco Sturm uh Laura is going to play a key part of that like unless like the Bruins are getting a Noah Dobson who’s going to be running the power play like getting Lurai to play you know better in his own end get more confident uh offensively which we can see his strengths there but uh just having him be a more consistent player he has the means to be a you know top four regular really impactful unique player but is he that or is he more of a you know third pairing sheltered type of player like I I think you’d like for him to be more of that top four option but um finding out what exactly Laurai is what his you know ceiling is I think moving forward is going to be key for Sturm to seeing what you can get out of this group we know they’re going to add this off seasonason but you also need to get more out of their returning cast and Lurai I think at the top of the list there yeah yeah I mean if Mason Leroy can get to a point where he is you know a 45 to 55 maybe even a little bit more points a season guy and like a plus five to minus n type defenseman not minus 42 or not not the green jacket type thing like if he can get to that point like I don’t know maybe in a couple years you’re looking at a 5-year deal at 7 million per or you know like you’re like he’s again he’s huge a good reach if if he can become a guy that you can even kind of trust in his own end and I’m not saying that he’s going to become that like there’s a there’s a world in which he isn’t there’s a world in which he is more of like a Tony D’Angelo type defenseman where it’s just offensive can’t really trust him in the D zone because that is kind of what he is right now so if you can get to that point of you know 45 to 55 points a season and you know not a horrible plus minus you probably are looking at a long-term deal um a couple years from now and as you mentioned like the cap jumped up like I said five times seven uh million AAB and people go 7 million for lower yeah your mind well you just mentioned it the cap’s going up uh salaries are going to go up contracts are going to go up like I I don’t think that’s going to be insane for a second pair you know offensive left shot defenseman in a couple years it might even be more and he might be great over the next few years and they sign him to a longerterm deal and the money’s even more so we’ll see with Lai again I don’t have a I don’t have a huge issue with it i haven’t seen people uh pissed off at that either i mean it’s two years 3.2 that’s very very manageable contract one last thing before we go um uh Brad Marshand has basically been drunk for like a week straight which has been awesome like this Marshand uh celebration tour has been incredible um I can’t say that about the whole Panthers uh thing i’m fine with everything they’ve done the only time when I was like uh Sam Bennett uh reenacting Conor McGregor was as I would say peak cringe like the way he did it was just I was I watched it I was like “Oh dude.” Like not no like you let him let Conor McGregor say that it was iconic like don’t try to recreate that brother like make your own do say your own thing but Marian’s basically been hammered for like a week straight have you seen the videos of him with the I think I’ve seen every video you know the you know the you know the um the the reaction tweet where it’s all that that row of old people at the casino just hitting the the swap button that’s me liking every Martian Gamer video ever there’s nothing better than that it’s one of the joys of people always talk about when like when the team wins the Stanley Cup the you know you know hoisting the cup and all that that’s great it’s one of the best moments in sports underrated part of the whole thing is just the weekl long celebration afterwards you don’t see it in as much sports now where it’s like you will literally just run the town for a week it’s the best it’s like why I can’t wait uh for maybe it’ll be in like 2055 when the Bruins win a cup hopefully it’s a lot sooner than that but like being able to cover a team and then get to cover the celebration afterwards not saying I’m popping bottles in the club but you being able to cover like where these guys are at all times like someone randomly shows up at like uh Easty one day and then people are ripping drinks at like the north end the next day with the cup or they’re in South it’s a It seems like it’s a blast to actually cover that and to see follow from afar even with a team like Florida it’s fun and Marian is living it up as you said as he’s I think has been drunk for a week oh completely like a week straight um hey the only way out is go back in and I think that’s what he’s been doing but the funny like even the video of Bararkov going to his neighbor’s house tonight at the cup at like 5:00 a.m and you hear the wife on the ring camera like he’ll be down he’ll be down like he’s coming don’t worry he’s coming down um but one little interesting thing and again I don’t know how much you can I don’t know how much stock you can put in what Marshian’s saying right now because I that might be overstating it um but he was talking at Dairy Queen uh about the new Brad Blizzard or whatever they’re calling it down there um and he he was talking about I feel bad even like taking these comments seriously so like forgive me um but he said quote “We all have our own story about maybe not being the happiest in the situation at the time.” And the context was he was talking about um everybody ended up in Florida he’s like “Yeah I have to I have to drive all the way to Quinsey or Brockton to get Dairy Queen it sucks i gotta go to Ashland for Dairy Queen this is this is BS um and he was even posting on his story you know thank you Blackhawks for Seth Jones and thank you Flames for Sam Bennett and Matthew Kachchuck or whatever but that comment I do wonder like how bad did things get here like I don’t it didn’t seem horrible at the time obviously the team wasn’t very good um we you know when he got dealt we heard obviously that they were kind of far apart on contract negotiations and but like was it bad like how bad was this and I don’t mean I’m not doubting what he’s saying i’m saying like how bad was this here like you know was he I don’t want to say fit to be captain but like did were things running smoothly um what was his relationship like with the coaching staff uh front office like I I just there was a maybe he’s just talking about his teammates there but I do wonder like how were things at the end here yeah I mean I think it’s only natural for a player like that to look back in this past year and disappointment you know going from where you were in 23 24 where you were one of the bigger I think surprises in the league uh you know had this money ball type of team that you know wins around plays Florida pretty tough in the second round comes up short but it felt like you were you know poised to take a step forward you add in free agency and I think for Marian probably going into that year it’s like all right where you know are we a legitimate contender I don’t know about that but every player feels like they’ve got a shot and you feel like you improved going into this past year and then it just completely unravels like training camp sucks guys are hurt the coach is already looking at he had photos of the the gateway arch on his on his laptop before like camp even started um I mean everything could have gone wrong went wrong so it unravels there you go from being like all right like maybe we got another run in us or you know we’re still going to be in a good spot i’m going to close out my career here and we have a few more playoff runs in you know in store for us to now holy [ __ ] like what the hell’s going on like am I going to get traded now to then you know not be able to come to terms on a contract like I I don’t know if it’s like resentment i don’t know if it’s um you know the there was like some behind the scenes stuff going on like I’m not reading too much into that no I think resentment is the apt word there but I I think it’s probably just more disappointment of how things you know played themselves out here in Boston and now you’re in a spot where you’re ripping shots and having Dairy Queen and living up in Florida and it’s good weather i feel like it’s probably just for him it’s I don’t know if it’s also maybe some of the beers talking but uh you’re just grateful for where you are in this spot compared to where you were just a few months ago doesn’t mean that people were throwing chas in the locker room or something in February but to go from a team that feels like they you know everything imploded and felt rudderless to a team that is focused on winning and has a great team and you win a cup and you’re in Florida and you’re hammered regularly i think I think you are going to be like “Yeah like you know compared to where I was that sucked back then like I think you’re naturally going to say something like that right?” No completely and that’s what And also like I I can’t say it enough he has been hammered and rightfully so like I’m not like he’s just been hammered which again it is I did you say it to me someone said this and I completely agree the re the biggest tragedy of the Bruins not winning in 2019 was like you you didn’t get Marianne just torturing this city I tweeted that out you did you didn’t get to the photo of him with a little Edmonton Oilers uh logo on his shirt yes like you just didn’t you didn’t get it And I that’s I you know I see like I think fans around here are happy for him but it’s also like such a regret of not not dealing him was the right thing i don’t think anybody disputes that but like that he couldn’t win a second cup here and what that would have Yeah what could have been um and with that that’s the show what a tough way to end on um and the Bruins get to care about the draft this year what a fun year yes um Connor what can the people look forward to from you over at boston.com and the Boston Globe yeah you can read my stuff over at the globe and Boston.com we have covered every step of the way this Bruins off seasonason whether it’s the draft free agency which is right around the corner dev camp also incoming uh you know trades offer sheets all that good stuff going into obviously the 2025 26 season so you can read all my stuff over there if you want to follow me on Twitter X whatever you call it these days you can connor Ryan_93 go do all that and make sure to go support our friends over at Prize Fix use that promo code CLNS make sure to subscribe to Brewins Drink Site on YouTube maybe even leave a review uh wherever you get your podcast if you’re super nice only nice things i I can’t read I can’t read criticism anyway that is Bruins beat i’m Ev Marinowski that’s Conor Ryan you Bruins beat listeners great press have your week

On this episode of Bruins Beat, Evan Marinofsky and Conor Ryan discuss the dilemma of the Bruins trading the No. 7 pick vs. making it — and what they should do. The guys dive into the prospects who should be available in that spot. Plus, Mason Lohrei signed a new deal. 

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