The 2023 NHL Draft begins Wednesday night with the first round in Nashville. Don’t expect to hear the Boston Bruins mentioned very often on ESPN’s broadcast.
The Bruins do not have a first-round pick in this draft. They dealt it to the Washington Capitals in February as part of the trade that sent Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway to Boston. The Bruins could trade back into Round 1, but that scenario seems unlikely.
If the Bruins don’t make any draft trades, they’ll be on the clock for the first time in the third round Thursday afternoon. Boston’s third-round selection is 92nd overall. The B’s next pick is in the fourth round at 124th overall. They don’t have a fifth-round pick because it was dealt to the Detroit Red Wings as part of the Tyler Bertuzzi trade in March. The Bruins have a sixth-round pick and two in the seventh round. The extra pick in Round 7 is from the Los Angeles Kings.
Which players might the Bruins target in the middle to late rounds of this draft?
The Athletic’s Corey Pronman is one of the best prospect experts in the industry. He did a 2023 NHL Mock Draft for all seven rounds last week.
Here are his projections for the Bruins’ five picks.
92. Rasmus Kumpulainen, C, Pelicans Jr. (FINLAND-JR.)
124. Hudson Malinoski, C, Brooks (AJHL)
188. Bogdan Konyushkov, D, Nizhny Novgorod (RUSSIA)
214. Antoine Keller, G, Geneve Jr. (SWISS-JR.)
220. Eli Sebastian, C, Green Bay (USHL)
Three centers out of five picks makes a lot of sense.
Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci’s futures with the Bruins have yet to be determined. The Bruins don’t have many good options internally to replace them as the top two centers. Center is one position where the Bruins have really struggled to draft and develop in for more than a decade.
Some recent draft picks — OHL centers Matthew Poitras and Brett Harrison — have shown a lot of promise, but they are still multiple years away from being ready for a legit NHL role. Restocking the cupboard at center by taking a swing at a few guys in the middle rounds would be a smart move by Boston in this week’s draft.
The Bruins don’t have a first- or second-round pick this year or in 2024, which makes hitting on these middle-round picks really important over the next few years.
