Some final mocks are coming in..
TSN and Sportsnet both have the B’s taking John Beecher, a center from the USNDP. 6-14=20 in 27 games. Those numbers aren’t eye popping, but he’s on a team with Hughes, Boldy, Caufield, Zegras, and Turcotte who all project to be top 10 picks. Apparently he grades out as one of the best skaters in the draft, headed to Michigan next season.
Pronman at the Athletic has them taking Jayden Struble, a left shot D from St. Seb’s who is headed to Northeastern. Apparently his stock has risen of late. Pronman had him at 70th when he did his top 107 rankings, McKenzie has him at 63 in his rankings. Central Scouting has him at 48th among North American skaters. Report on him is he’s a puck moving defenseman, who plays with a bit of an edge.
I’m generally a BPS (skater) guy, but all things being equal, I’d prefer to take an F at 30. They’ve used their top pick on a defenseman in 3 straight drafts. There seems to be a glut of D in the 15-20 range, maybe one of them falls and is too good to pass up, but I think the Bruins need to inject some life into the F prospect ranks. They don’t have a ton to be excited about behind Studnicka. Beecher seems intriguing, they do seem to put a premium on skating ability at the draft and he seems to have a more rounded 2-way game. Ryan Suzuki seems like someone who could fall to them. McKenzie said on his podcast that the rub on him is he’s a perimeter player, which probably scares them off. Arthur Kaliyev is seems to be the most volatile of the forwards. Gifted offensively, He scored 51 goals in the OHL this year, a feat not done by many. Apparently some consistency issues as some scouts think he disappears too much. McKenzie said he was the most polarizing player when he did his survey to compile his list. Some had him mid-first round, others late 2nd.