Revisiting the 2015 NHL Draft

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Watching DeBrusk's performance in the Toronto series has been a revelation.

I vividly remember the 2015 draft and thinking the franchise wouldn't recover from it for a decade. Three first round picks, 13, 14, 15 overall. Rumors of failed attempts to trade up for Noah Hannafin. The board (correctly) begging for Mathew Barzal and Kyle Connor and getting neither. It was a dark day. You can re-live it here:

http://sonsofsamhorn.net/index.php?threads/draft-day-game-thread-storm-the-td-garden-like-its-the-bastille.9969/

Now, three years later, we were half right. Whiffing on Barzal at that point in the draft looks even more inexcusable now. However, the DeBrusk kid that was seemingly picked half a round too early is paying huge dividends. Their second round pick, Carlo, was a huge hit for the franchise. In a hindsight is 20-20 redraft, an argument can be made that the two are top 15 talents in their draft class. On NHL draft day, it's good to remember things are likely never as dark, or sometimes as rosy, as they seem at the time.

Zboril


Here's Sweeney, inviting the boos, picking DeBrusk.


And 'Off the board' Senyshyn

 

Eddie Jurak

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At this point, DeBrusk and Carlo look like good players, both of whom can be expected to improve with experience in the league. Odds are good that a couple of JFK, Lauzon, Zboril, and Senyshyn will also pan out, though Senyshyn in particular has a long way to go.
 

MiracleOfO2704

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Without going back into the thread, I think a lot of us were way more upbeat about their second round selections (Carlo, JFK, Lauzon) than their first. To be fair, this was the same day that saw Sweeney get the 13th and 15th picks for Lucic and Hamilton and McQuaid get extended until next season.

Senyshyn was always going to be a project, but the biggest regret pick may be Zboril over Barzal. Then again, it’s too early to judge a defenceman like him.
 

TheRealness

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DeBrusk has really impressed me, and his fearlessness is really enjoyable. He scored five goals in a seven game series, two of those goals in game seven, and he had the game winner.

Zboril from what I understand has been good not great in Providence this year, but I would have to defer to those that have actually watched him play. He's got a lot of potential, but you have to wonder where his fit is depending on how long Chara can play. With Krug and Gryz, the Bruins have depth at LD

Senyshyn developed slowly in juniors as well. I think mentally he has to catch up with his physical tools. He's got fantastic speed, and if he can harness it will be a very good player.

Carlo is right now the gem of the second rounders, but I have high hopes for JFK. I suspect he will be the third line center next year, and I expect him to do well. Lauzon is tougher, again because I haven't seen him play this year, but he seems to have struggled. He also is very prone to injury, so I wonder where they see him long term. He had very intriguing numbers in juniors when healthy, so I hope as he gets more experience he improves.
 

Eddie Jurak

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DeBrusk has really impressed me, and his fearlessness is really enjoyable. He scored five goals in a seven game series, two of those goals in game seven, and he had the game winner.
I haven't been as up on Bruins prospects as I used to be, and didn't catch a ton of Bruins games this season. With that in mind, DeBrusk has really exceeded every expectation I had for him. For whatever reason, I thought he was going to basically be a finesse guy with some scoring touch and top 6 upisde. I didn't realize he would be all of that, with speed and grit thrown in for good measure. Apart from how the rest of that draft pans out, DeBrusk was a great pick in that 13-15 range.

Zboril from what I understand has been good not great in Providence this year, but I would have to defer to those that have actually watched him play. He's got a lot of potential, but you have to wonder where his fit is depending on how long Chara can play. With Krug and Gryz, the Bruins have depth at LD

Senyshyn developed slowly in juniors as well. I think mentally he has to catch up with his physical tools. He's got fantastic speed, and if he can harness it will be a very good player.
Defensemen, moreso than forwards, can take some time to develop. McAvoy types are a rare exception. Zboril (and Lauzon) have some time. Senyshyn does as well, but I'd have expected more from him this year if he was a legit prospect. Not too many slow developing scoring forwards, although we happen to have one on our roster (Marchand).
 

jk333

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I would also add it’s hard to criticize the Zboril pick because at the time he was the highest rated D available and the Bruins needed a D prospect after trading Hamilton away. Additionally, they didn’t know they would be able to draft Carlo in the second round. Therefore, three forwards there was never a realistic scenario.

Debrusk has proven his value; it’d be nice to have either Barzal or Connor over Senshyn but at this point Bruins management has earned the benefit of the doubt.
 

Eddie Jurak

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Recent drafts:
  • 2014: 1 stud (Pastrnak), 1 good player (Heinen), 2 others likely to be good (Bjork, Donato)
  • 2015: 2 good players (DeBrusk, Carlo), 4 propsects (Zboril, Lauzon, Senyshyn, JFK)
  • 2016: 1 stud (McAvoy), 1 good prospect (Frederic)
  • 2017: 2 good prospects (Urko, Studnicka)
 

veritas

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They whiffed on 2 picks, most likely. But who cares. One draft isn't anywhere close to a big enough sample size to evaluate a front office. They've done a great job drafting overall over the past 5 or so years, I don't see the need to try to make excuses for a couple of bad picks. It happens a lot to even the best front offices
 

Salem's Lot

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They whiffed on 2 picks, most likely. But who cares. One draft isn't anywhere close to a big enough sample size to evaluate a front office. They've done a great job drafting overall over the past 5 or so years, I don't see the need to try to make excuses for a couple of bad picks. It happens a lot to even the best front offices
I'd say they whiffed on one pick. Zboril was the right pick there. He was the consensus best defenseman available and they needed a defenseman. If he doesn't turn into a top pairing guy, that's on him. I still think he'll be a valuable 4-5 guy even if his offense never comes around. Senyshyn over Barzal is an obvious whiff, but I'm still not giving up hope that he'll at least turn into a useful NHL player in a year or two.
 

timlinin8th

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Add to that the move that WASN’T made - all those 2015 1sts were acquired to try and trade up for Noah Hanifin. Hanafin is a nice player and probably still on a development curve as a D-man, but I’m not sure I’d trade DeBrusk for him straight up at this point. So in a weird way, that non-move worked out (especially since the Bruins were able to get Carlo later in the draft).