Boston Bruins Forward Focused At 2023 NHL Draft

The B's didn't select until the third round, but came away with four forwards and a defensemen as their 2023 NHL Draft class

NASHVILLE, TN – The Boston Bruins didn’t own a selection in the first round of the 2023 NHL Draft and didn’t pick until the end of the third round on Thursday’s second day of the amateur draft at Bridgestone Arena.

So there will be understandably modest expectations for the 2023 NHL Draft class when it comes to the Black and Gold, and that had Bruins general manager Don Sweeney essentially issuing a public apology to his amateur scouts when it was all over.

“Full disclosure, as a GM you feel badly that you haven’t rewarded the work that these [scouts] have done. That's on me,” said Sweeney. “I need to figure out ways to get more draft capital, so they get more swings.”

It goes beyond this season, unfortunately, as the Boston Bruins don’t have a first-round pick again until 2025 and won’t have a first or second round pick until the 2026 NHL Draft after they went “all in” last season loading up with Tyler Bertuzzi, Garnet Hathaway, Dmitry Orlov along with a wagon of a hockey team that posted 65 wins and 135 points. The current scorched earth status of the Bruins draft-and-development system would have been acceptable if the 2023 Bruins playoff edition had brought home the Cup, but instead a first-round playoff exit has made the whole chain of events all the more problematic.

Still, they did make a handful of draft picks on Thursday that they hope will, at least in part, replenish their prospect pipeline.