The Boston Bruins and Anaheim Ducks finalized a trade they made back in January after the conclusion of the regular season, confirming exactly which draft pick the B’s are getting back for forward Jeffrey Viel.
Boston traded Viel to Anaheim in exchange for a 2026 fourth-round pick on Jan. 16, but the Ducks possessed two selections in that round, from the Detroit Red Wings and Philadelphia Flyers. As a condition of the trade, the Bruins would get the higher pick of the two, depending on how the Wings and Flyers finished in the regular season. Thus, the B’s will get Detroit’s fourth-round pick, 111th overall (go to PuckPedia for more details on the trade).
This result comes after the Red Wings collapsed out of the playoff race entirely, while the Flyers snuck into the third seed in the Metropolitan division. At the time of the trade, the Red Wings were 29-16-4 and tied for the Atlantic Divison lead. They went 12-15-6 from there on out, finishing 10th in the conference.
Anaheim, meanwhile, got 35 games out of Viel, and made it back to the playoffs for the first time since the 2017-18 season. They will take on the defending Western Conference champion Edmonton Oilers in the first round.
What about the Toronto pick?
The more noteworthy Bruins draft pick to know about is, of course, the 2026 first-round pick they acquired from the Toronto Maple Leafs at the 2025 trade deadline. The pick is top-5 protected, and the Leafs finished with the fifth-worst record in the league. The Bruins will need at least one team below Toronto to win a lottery drawing, which would push the pick to sixth or seventh. Otherwise, the pick would slide to 2027.
And that’s where it gets even more complicated. The Leafs also traded away their 2027 first-rounder, to the aforementioned Flyers. That pick is top-10 protected. If Toronto lands outside the top-10 next year, the Flyers will get that pick, and the Bruins would ultimately get an unprotected first-round pick in 2028. If the pick does land inside the top-10, then the Leafs would have the choice of who gets the ’27 pick, and who gets the unprotected one.
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Essentially, Bruins fans should root for this year’s draft pick to slip to sixth or seventh, which would avoid all the complications of sliding to 2027 or 2028. It would certainly come with risk for Toronto to fork over an unprotected pick, but they should be a safe bet to build back toward contention in the Eastern Conference over the next two years after a surprisingly bad campaign. And if the ’27 pick is in the top-10, it would be a no-brainer to let Philly have it over Boston.
The Bruins do have decent odds to end up getting the pick, all things considered. There’s a 24.5% chance of the pick staying at fifth, but 44.0% to drop to sixth, and 14.2% to sink to seventh. Toronto has an 8.5% chance of winning the lottery for the first overall pick.
Matt, a North Andover, Massachusetts native, has been with The Sports Hub since 2010. Growing up the son of Boston University All-American and Melrose High School hall-of-fame hockey player Steve Dolloff, sports was always a part of his life. After attending Northeastern University, Matt focused his love of sports on writing, extensively writing about all four major Boston teams. He also is a co-host of the Sports Hub Underground podcast and is a regular on-air contributor on the Sports Hub. Matt writes about all New England sports from Patriots football to Boston Celtics and Boston Bruins.