Boston Bruins Development Camp Recap

Boston Bruins Development Camp Recap

Another development camp is in the books for the Boston Bruins, but this one felt different. This one had a vibe of positivity for the first time in a really long time. Now, I wasn’t there, but there was a lot of great coverage and a lot of things I want to talk about from development camp on this episode of Bruins Die Hards. 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. As I mentioned before, I wasn’t at development camp. I would have loved to been at development camp, but I have some responsibilities at home. I spent the week checking out the coverage, looking reading great stuff from Connor Ryan, Scott McLaclin, Evan Marinowski. Everybody covered it phenomenally. And you know, I’m going to leave a link in the description down below of everybody’s coverage so you can check it out as well because they drop some great videos, but they all gave some great coverage. Now, in the past, development camp has been more about who’s this fourth liner that’s going to be making the Boston Bruins, and we’ve kind of been grasping at straws for who the Boston Bruins have in the pipeline. Year after year after year, our elite prospects ranks the Boston Bruins last in the prospect pool. But even them, after the draft, they were making jokes on how they can’t rate the Boston Bruins last anymore. There was a lot more excitement coming out of development camp. We had the likes of James Hagens, Will Zeers, Dean Lerno, who actually looked better. We had Lars Will Moore. There was just so much excitement coming out of de development camp, which is great to see. A lot of the videos over the past year have just been depressing to say the least. I’ve been talking a lot of the negative things that are happening with the Boston Ruins. I try and shed some light and I try and give my honest opinion. But with this, I was having fun just reading everybody’s coverage and I want to share some of it with you. I just want to go through some of the observations that I took from their coverage on what was going on in Dev Camp. And I wanted to start off with just the most positive of all of them. James Haggin and Will Moore had a heck of a time getting to dev camp. So much that the Boston Bruins even released a statement on day one saying that they weren’t going to participate. It was amazing to see James Higgins and Will Moore on the ice and both of them pretty much saying as James Higgins put, you’re going to have to cut their legs off to not have them on the ice.
Yeah. Um couple flight delays and whatnot. But when you have a chance to put on the Bruin jersey, you can’t say no. Doesn’t matter what flight delay or, you know, how much sleep you get. This is a dream come true. And this is the first time you’re able to put on the jersey. You’d have to cut off my leg to to tell me I couldn’t get on that ice. So,
they wanted the thrill of putting on the Bruins jersey for the first time and they weren’t going to miss it. Adam McUade, who was running dev camp, noticed it right away and it was a big plus for him.
Yeah, it says a lot. Um like you said they were given given the option and uh came down told them and they were like we want to go on. Um obviously had a really really tough few days with with travel and limited sleep getting in get to the hotel I think at 4:00 last night and they came in this morning did all the off ice testing and wanted to get on the ice wanted to you know get right into the group. So uh it’s promising good sign.
Hagens was the star of dev camp for obvious reasons. He’s the highest Bruins draft pick since Charlie Makavoy. He’s either the future 2C or the future number one center for the Boston Bruins. I don’t think we’re going to see him this year. He really wants to I’ll say this about James Hagens. Whoever taught him how to act in front of the camera, the guy is ready. He says all the right things. He’s on point. He’s never saying any negativity and he honestly makes you want to run through a wall. He maybe he’s a future captain of the Boston Bruins or at least a future assistant because the way he talks, it’s kind of inspiring. I kind of love this quote. I want to be a Boston Bruin really bad. I’m gonna give everything I possibly have to this team, to this organization, to the fan base. I’m just excited to get going. That’s what we want to hear from these kids. Far too often we get kids coming in here that, you know, unfortunately their aspirations aren’t as high because they don’t really see a path to making the Boston Bruins. And in the past, it was just room on the bottom six. And we had a ton of the guys there, too. And we do again. But I do see a future of the Boston Bruins. I see James Higgins. I see Will Zeers. I see Blenard. I see all these guys actually playing for the Boston Bruins in the future. Year after year after year, I saw development camps of people talking about this guy could make the fourth line. This guy could be an energy guy for the Boston Bruins. Maybe this guy could even just break into camp. I understand the hype around Hagens right now and everybody saying, “I want this guy to be a Boston Bruin next year.” And we might get that. But the good news for you fans is he’s playing in Boston no matter what. So, you can either see him as a Bruins or you can go see him at BC. I have a feeling he’s going to go back to BC. As Adam McUade said, I think it’s some ways it’s going to benefit him. Going back to BC, he’s talking about continue to ramp up his compete level and consistent impact that he’s capable of having. I think that’s being big for him for a lot of young players. It’s just bringing consistency night in and night out. Hagens is not going to have the huge linemates he had last year with Gabe Perau or Leonard. He’s going to be the guy at BC and he’s going to be counted upon, but he’s probably going to play with a little bit of a chip on his shoulder. He really wants to be on the Boston Birds. Totally get it. What kid wouldn’t want to play in the NHL right away? I almost guarantee he’s going back to BC next year. And I almost guarantee he’s going to have a great year. And if he does, don’t be surprised at the end of the season for BC that he burns a year off and he signs with the Boston Bruins and finishes out the year regardless of where they are in the standings. Even if the Bruins have no chance of making the playoffs, I wouldn’t hesitate the Boston Bruins signing him just to get him into the lineup to get him some NHL reps. It’s not that he doesn’t look NHL ready because Connor Ryan was talking about how great he looked on his edges, how poised he was, his head up plays. He didn’t score in the scrimmage on the final day, but he obviously looked like the best on the ice. I didn’t see one person not talk about how good he looked and how almost NHL ready. I didn’t see anybody writing the article of saying Hagens needs to be a Boston Bruin next year. And that’s not a bad thing. And when I look at it this, why would you want him to go play when you’re going to have so many people fighting for a roster? We know, we’ve looked at what the center position looks like next year. We’ve got Lynholm. We’ve got Casey Middlestat who I think I don’t know if he’s got a future in Boston. We’ve got Fraser Minton fighting out for that third spot or Matthew Pontra. You’ve got Castillic, Johnny Beecher. A plethora of people that can play on that fourth line center spot. So right now for James Hagens, probably the best thing for his development is to go back to BC, get more reps, be the power play guy, be the PK guy, be the guy getting the most ice time because frankly, if he was coming to Boston next year, he would be fighting for third seat because I don’t think he’s ready to be 2C. Yes, he continues to drive home that he is 190 pounds. And I I’ve said this before, I don’t know when 190 pounds became that thing that qualifies you to be in the NHL. It’s great that you’re building strength and you’re getting bigger, but you need to do more. And as Adam Mcuade said, you need to bring that consistency. It’s obviously there’s gaps in his game that the Bruins noticed. He mentioned right after when he said, “I want to be a Boston Bruin next year, but it’s not up to me and he took it the right way. He did say that he was going to be talking the Bruins brass and then he’ll see where his future is.” I’m almost guaranteeing that they told him he’s going back to BC. And the good news is half the guys he was playing with at dev camp, they’re going to be there, too. like LNO. He’s going to have a lot of guys to have a lot in common with and a lot of common goals. And he’s also going to have an opportunity of going to watch the Boston Bruins. Chestnut Hill is not too far away. He’ll have every opportunity to watch some NHL games. He could check out practice if he want, but he’s going to be in the Boston area and he’s going to be feeling the love from Bruins fans. I can guarantee it. Another player I was seeing a ton about was Blenar. Drafted by the Boston Bruins this year. So much so that nobody even knew who he was because the Bruins didn’t even have a graphic for him. And what does it turn out? The guy was a Bruins fan his whole life, which is hilarity in itself. Blonar looked amazing out there. According to a lot of the people there, everybody was raving on his play. Guy’s 6’4, huge out there, and everybody said he was skating like Mason Loy at points, which is crazy to me. Loy has a smooth skating style and can get up the ice real quick. If a guy at 6’4 like Blar can do that, the Boston Bruins might have something with him. I’m not saying he’s going to be a Bruin anytime soon. Playing over in the Swedish Elite League, I have a funny feeling we wouldn’t see this guy for another two, maybe three years, but that’s not a bad thing. Like I said before, when we were looking at development camp from the years past, I would project these guys to never even make the team. We’re now looking at actual prospects that possibly could make the Boston Bruins. That’s not a bad thing. It’s a positive outlook. The future for the Boston Bruins is actually bright. Like I said, when I think elite prospects puts them out, I would probably put the Bruins prospect list probably in the middle. There was amount of people that were saying that the Bruins killed it at the draft. Getting Hagens, getting Will Moore, getting these guys where they got them in the draft. People said the Boston Bruins were one of the best drafting teams this year. When do we hear that? If Lenar at 6’4 has offensive capabilities like Mason Lrod with also coupled with his defensive mind, the Bruins could have something here. He’s going to have to do a lot more seasoning, get a lot more better, play a couple more years down in the Swedish Elite League or wherever they want to bring him. I know some people were talking that he might come over to North America, but it sounds like he’s staying over in Sweden, which is not a bad thing at all. He’s going to get some development. He’s going to get more ice time and then possibly try out for the Boston Bruins in a couple years and then, you know, maybe he even starts in Providence. Unfortunately, he’s a left shot defenseman. I would have loved a right shot defenseman. It is what it is. Don Sweeney stuck to his guns and said he was going to take the best player available. And I have to hand it to him on this one because even at the time I had nothing to say about this kid. And watching the videos and seeing what everybody’s saying about the kid, I’ve got excitement about him. The guy I want to talk about is Will Zeers cuz I don’t think enough people talk about him. When the Charlie Coyle trade happened, a lot of people thought that Casey Middlestat and the pick were the center of that p that trade. I honestly think right now that the Bruins wanted Zeers more than anything else in this plus the pick. I honestly think Casey Middlestat was a throwin because Colorado Avalanche needed to move camp and it was no secret they’re trying to move Casey Middlestat. Yes, Zeers isn’t big as they say. 5’11, same height as James Hagens, but they’re saying he looks unbelievable out there. His speed, again, his edges, he stands out in all the drills, in all the games, and all the scrimmages. People can’t stop raving on how good he looks, especially along the boards. People can’t even believe how good Forch is. Now, I will say this about all these kids and everything I’m talking about. They’re playing against people of their peers. This is not like they’re playing against NHL caliber players. It’s not like they’re getting ramped up. I would love to see how they would progress coming to the full camp. A lot of these kids that they’re playing in universities, the odds of them coming to the Boston Bruins camp are slim because if school’s already started, they’re not going to be there. That’s not a bad thing. It’s just the way this works. The OHL kids, they can go to camp and then still come back, but a lot of what the college US players, it’s just not going to happen. Adam Mcuade had this to say about him. You could tell right away that he’s just fitting into the group just on the ice. His natural instinct for scoring. He he doesn’t need many opportunities and he capitalizes on. I think he’s driven that way. Zellers got 44 goals last year in the USL. He is going to be a threat for the Bruins in the future possibly. Again, he’s not going to be playing anytime soon. I think Zeers is another guy that’s going to be two, three years away from playing in the Boston Bruins. But again, we didn’t have players like this before. We had no one to look forward to that was going to be making this team. We would have one prospect and then nine times out of 10 the Boston Bruins would trade them for people to push for the playoffs and then not win and not win in the playoffs. It’s unfortunately that has been the pattern the last 10 years. It’s not to say that it’s a bad thing, but besides Makavoy, we really haven’t had much. The Bruins usually always draft guys that are like the guys they signed this year. grinders, fourthliners, people that can fill in their bottom six because to be honest, they had a core in the top six. It’s just it is what it is. Even this year, if you look at the top six, you could safely say that some of those guys aren’t really top six players. I could say that, you know, Middlestad is really a 3C and Arvdson is a third line winger. But unfortunately, based on the depth that the Bruins have, they’re going to be playing higher up in the lineup. But a guy like Zealers, all speed and skill is something that can inject some energy into the Bruins lineup in the future and can get the fans excited. I have a funny feeling this kid is going to pan out. He was high up on the Colorado Avalanches prospect and now he’s going to be one of the high up on the Boston Bruins prospect list as well. I want to talk about Dean Laterno because he had a terrible year at BC, but we find out the guy had a broken hand most of the year, which is kind of crazy because I know in the NHL we’ll find out eventually what’s going on with guys, but it took this long to find out what happened with Dean Latero. I’m not saying after what I watched or read about his development camp this year. Dean Laterno is going to be a surefired NHLer. I’m not even sure that he is going to be a second line center in BC next year. He could be three seed. He looked great out there. People said he was using his speed. He was separating on plays. He was very tight in the corners. I look at Dean Lerno in a different way now. Could he be the future 3C or 4C? That powerful center, uses huge frame to move people off the puck, get better off his face offs. Maybe he can change his game because if you look at the Boston Bruins and you look at what Laterno is going to notice, he’s going to see everybody like Will Moore and James Higgins at school next year and he’s going to know where he stands in that prospect pool and that’s going to drive him. I see this as a opportunity for him. He can only get better. When the Boston Bruins drafted him last year, everybody knew it was a project. Everybody knew he wasn’t going to be he was Jesus. He was in prep school at the time. He hadn’t even gone to BC. And the Bruins have even already admitted that it was probably a mistake to let him go to BC last year. It is what it is. You can’t look past that. You just got to move forward. So, LNO is taking this opportunity to want to be better next year. He’s taking it as a inspiration to be better next year. He’s going to use that to be better, which I take is a very good thing for the Boston Bruins. You have that many prospects that are close to home that you can see on a regular basis and you can talk to on a regular basis and help with their development. And Laterno needs it. He may never play in the NHL, but like I said, you can look at his skills and his tangibles now and you can actually push it in the direction he needs to do. He knows now that if he’s going to make the Boston Ruins, he needs to do this, this, this, and this. He needs to play the right way as Don Sweeney always says, but he needs to be tight on the forche and he needs to change his defensive game. But next year at BC, he needs to chip in offensively. As McUade said, he was really happy with Dean this week. He thinks he showed how much stronger he’s gotten, more physical. He’s using his frame, wanting to get to the net, and doing things quicker. Those are great things being said by Adam McQuade about Dean Lerno. And it makes me think that he has changed from last year because last year when he came out of dev camp, there wasn’t many positives talking about Dean Lerno except for the fact that he was in the first round was when the Boston Bruins picked him. Latero got a year over at BC last year to get stronger, learn how to be a hockey player. When he’s at prep school, which wasn’t far from where I actually live, he’s not getting those same amenities that he he has over at BC. And now he’s going to be able to use the amenities at BC. He’s going to be able to use the amenities from the Boston Bruins. there’s a lot of tangibles that he can use this summer and through the next year over at BC and and continuing to get better and be a better hockey player. But again, he’s up there on the list of Boston Bruins prospects. Unfortunately, besides on day one when it was all part of the news, I didn’t really see a lot about Will Moore. I did see some videos of showing him that he can use some of his speed and his size, but Will Moore, I think, has a lot more development than the rest of them. I think he is around 3 to four years before he possibly gets in the NHL. Big frame. He needs to get bigger. He needs to get stronger. He needs to get faster. He’s got a lot of speed. He’s got some offensive upside. He’s got a great defensive game, but there’s a lot of things that he needs to work on to be an NHLer. He’s going to be at BC again next year as well. And again, he’s going to be with LNO. He’s going to be with Hagens. They’re going to learn from each other and push themselves to be better. Will Moore looked a lot like Laterno from last year where I didn’t see a lot of people raving about his game from the development camp, but I didn’t see people dogging him for his game over at the development camp. But I did see a lot of people talking about almost every single kid that they drafted in the the draft this year, how good they look there, which is great to see. Only time will tell with these kids, but I truly truly truly feel the future’s bright for the Boston Bruins in a really long time with regards to their kids in the system. It’s been hard to say for years. It’s almost like we try and like find something positive to say about these kids when there really wasn’t anything there. We finally do have a prospect pool to actually be as Bruins fans to be a little bit proud of. And I see that as a good thing. No longer not want to look at that list when Elite Prospects puts out the rankings of the prospects across the NHL. I I can see over the next couple years with all the draft picks the Bruins have. They’ve got two first rounders next year. They’re going to build a farm system that finally rivals a lot of the teams across the league. And in the next three years, the Boston Bruins are going to be a very good hockey team. I I’ve said this before. I don’t think the Boston Bruins make the playoffs this year. They’re going to fight for a wild card spot, but they might not make it. And that could turn out to be Gavin McKenna. So, that’s not a bad thing. I’m not saying tank. I’m saying you try your hardest. You play your best hockey out there. I I don’t believe in tanking, but I just don’t look at the Atlantic division right now and see the Boston Bruins beating out Tampa, uh, Florida, Toronto, Ottawa, or Montreal right now. I think they are all stronger teams right now, but anything can happen. We’re going to get another full year of Charlie Mackoy as long as he doesn’t get injured. We’re going to get a full year of Hampus Lynholm. We’re hopefully going to get a better year of Jeremy Swayman. We know what we’re going to get out of David Pastnack. The guy is just a beast. Let’s hope the Boston Bruins future starts now. I want to hear from you though. What did you think of everything that you’ve seen from Development Camp? Because I know all you all of you, you’ve been checking out everything that’s been dropping about Development Camp all over social media. Who are you excited to see play in the NHL and when do you think you’re going to see them? 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 around 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. He scores.

The Boston Bruins Development Camp has come to an end, but there was a lot of buzz around camp this year. We had high-profile attendees, including James Hagens, and many more who brought some buzz around camp for the Boston Bruins.

Source

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-bruins/2025/07/03/boston-bruins-development-camp-nhl-hockey-james-hagens-zellers-letourneau/

https://www.boston.com/sports/boston-bruins/2025/06/30/boston-bruins-prospects-will-zellers-development-camp-nhl-hockey/

https://www.audacy.com/weei/sports/bruins/7-standouts-from-bruins-2025-development-camp

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