It was an exciting night for Bruins fans as the next wave of players enter the system, after a coupel days, and a night of wheeling and dealing, the team made 17 picks in all, including 7 dmen, 3 goalies and 7 forwards.
"Clearly our focus going in was to shore up our prospect depth at all positions, we're extremely excited about the way things shook out and could not have hoped for better results."
The teams first pick of the day was, as expected, Phil Kessel. The team threw the 76th overall pick to Chicago to ensure they would pass on Kessel at the 4 spot. "We feel like Phil will play in our top 2 lines this season, and would look really good paired with Marian Hossa. If we had the first overall pick in the draft, it would have been this young man, and we are thrilled to get him at #5"
Late in the first round, the team picked up promising blueliner Jeff Petry, "Jeff had an amazing year, and we were a little surprised he was still there at our pick. We think with im going to college next year, he will only continue to develop, and will be a longterm fixture on our blueline."
The team only had one second rounder, and elected to take hulking defenseman Simon Danis-Pepin with the pick. Besides his monstrous fram, Pepin is developing into a well rounded dman, and the team is optimistic that he will provide them with another longterm rock on the point.
In the third round the team went off the 06 draft list for the first (of many) times, as the team selected Kirill Starkov. Word was they considered him with their second rounder, but the gamble paidoff when the nabbed him in round 3. Starkov who is likely turning pro next season has tremendous offensive upside, and could find himself on the NHL Jackets by year end.
Also in the third round the team took imposing defensive defenseman Theo Peckham, another rough and tumble dman who will be expected to develop into a longterm asset.
In the fourth round, the Bruins nabbed what they thought was the "steal of the draft" in Vladimir Sobotka. The talented Czech forward lit up teh WJC last year before a shoulder inury derailed his regular season. He has signed a pro contract though and will likely start his AHL career this season, but the team thinks he could be an NHLer by year end.
Also in round 4 the team picked up goaltender Josh Tjordman, a young AHL goalie with a high upside, especially in the craptastic system that is the NHL COyotes.
Round five saw the team nab dman Tomas Kudelka, who the team is quite high on, as well as shifty forward Torrey MItchell and goalie prospect Daniel Larsson. The team only had one sixth rounder, but made it count as they selected 20 year old AHL rookie Peterri Wirtanen of the NHL ducks.
The team had 6, 7th round picks and selected Kevin Shaeffer (who they had graded as a 5th round prospect) Dane Crowley, Stefan Ridderwall, Jonas Almtrop, Nate Guenin, and Tyler Spurgeon.
All in all, the Bruins could not be happier with their draft haul, for what its worth they addressed all key positions, and the team is locked and loaded to go forth.
