Bruins secure worst outcome in 2025 NHL Draft lottery

Bruins

The Bruins will have an opportunity to draft a potential franchise center like Jake O’Brien or Caleb Desnoyers in late June.

For the first time since 2011, the Bruins are set to pick in the top-10 of an NHL Draft.

But fortune did not favor Boston on Monday night.

Boston found out where it would pick in the draft order Monday, with the NHL Draft lottery determining that the Bruins would pick No. 7 overall in the upcoming draft — which will be held in Los Angeles from June 27-28. 

The Bruins — who have been hindered by the absence of a franchise fixture down the middle since the retirements of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci — will now have a chance to add a promising talent ahead of what stands to be a busy offseason. 

Still, sitting at the seventh spot stands as a bit of a setback for the Bruins.

Boston entered the NHL Draft lottery with the fifth-best odds of winning both the first (8.5 percent) and second overall (8.5 percent) picks — with those odds determined by the Bruins’ standing with the fifth-worst record in the NHL.

The New York Islanders — who entered with just a 3.5 percent chance of earning the first pick — won the draft lottery and will pick first. The San Jose Sharks will pick second and the Chicago Blackhawks will pick third.

According to the draft odds, the most-likely outcome for the Bruins was to drop down one spot to No. 6 overall (44.0 percent) — with that No. 7 selection standing as the furthest Boston could drop in this lottery.

Boston had just a 14.2 percent chance of dropping to No. 7, with the Bruins getting bumped down the draft order due to both the Islanders and Utah Hockey Club (No. 4 overall) leapfrogging them in the lottery.

“We’re still picking in the upper echelon of the draft, which we haven’t done for a significant time period,” Bruins GM Don Sweeney said. “So we feel very comfortable in terms of where the top seven picks are.

“We’ll get a good player and an impact player, regardless of the disappointment of moving back a couple spots. That’s just the nature of the lottery.”

After trudging through a season where the Bruins plummeted to the bottom of the Eastern Conference standings with a 33-39-10 record, securing a top-seven pick stands as a silver lining — although falling to No. 7 does limit some of their talent pool.

Several factors compounded in Boston’s miserable 2024-25 campaign, but a barren prospect pool loomed large for a franchise that featured little depth beyond its franchise stalwarts like David Pastrnak.

With Sweeney and the Bruins making a concerted effort to put a core anchored by Bergeron over the top, Boston had relinquished multiple draft picks over the years that hindered that internal pipeline. 

Entering this offseason, the Bruins had only picked in the first round in three of the last seven drafts — with 2025 also marking the first time since 2017 that Boston is picking in the first two rounds of the same draft. 

“We have traded those picks, we have traded some of the prospects to try and improve our club to win Stanley Cups,” Bruins team president Cam Neely said last month. “So I think the narrative that we’re not hitting on all of our draft picks, no one is. 

“You pick in the top 10, you better hit. We haven’t done that in quite some time. So have we been perfect? No, can we be better? Yes.”

As the Bruins’ top brass begins the arduous task of retooling their roster and opening a new contention window, Boston should be able to pick a promising pivot when they land on the clock.

With pick No. 7, the Bruins should be within range to select another coveted young player like Moncton Wildcats’ Caleb Desnoyers or Brantford Bulldogs’s Jake O’Brien.

Boston might be poised to add a tantalizing talent to their organization, but Sweeney did not want to tip his hand over what type of player he intends on target — or just how pro-ready these prospects might be.

“I mean, you never know,” Sweeney said. “The surprises are what they are each year. I think you find a player that comes out of the gate and looks like he can play right away, whether that’s acclimation.

“I mean, some of these guys have been injured for a period of time. So,
are they mature enough and physically ready to play? That’s to be determined. The league gets harder as it goes along and you see a lot of these players do get injured when they start out early. But they’re all good players in the upper echelon of the draft.”

Here is the full draft lottery order:

1. Islanders
2. Sharks
3. Blackhawks
4. Utah HC
5. Predators
6. Flyers
7. Bruins
8. Kraken
9. Sabres
10. Ducks
11. Penguins
12. Rangers
13. Red Wings
14. Blue Jackets
15. Canucks
16. Flames