Boston Bruins UPDATED 12/6 - Looking back at the 2015 Entry Draft and the aftermath

[mikelvl]

DeBrusk
Carlo
Lauzon
Zboril
Vladar

Half a defense, a decent scoring wing and a goalie all out of one draft is A+ in a vacuum

The problem is that there will soon be only two of the left

 

[MattFromFranklin]

The worst part is that Bruins reached for players in that draft. EVERYONE had Barzel and Connors next up on the board. If they just did what all the evaluators had this franchise would be in a much different spot.

At the time of this draft, Marek and Wyshynski still had a podcast together. On their podcast right after the draft (live from the floor) they said they talked to execs from nearly every team and every single person they interviewed viewed Sweeney as a laughing stock. There was a TSN interview with Pierre McGuire and the TSN guy (forget his name) said it seemed like "some kid has gotten control of the Boston Bruins."

 

[kjpm]

TSN brought it up tonight yet again.


​

This column by Shaughnessy unnerved Charlie who had just taken over from his father a few months earlier and Neely fired Chiarelli 2 days later. The problem is they had NO plan in place. Sweeney wasn't who Cam wanted as he left him twisting for a full month before he was given the job.

Personally, I think Chiarelli knew he was gone as he sold his Cambridge home in 2014.

I see things today that boggle my mind. The Bruins haven't even put out a media guide this year as the woman who did it for decades retired and it's not a priority for management. The Bruins haven't made a stink about NESN not sending people on the road while most teams have.

BUT they made sure ABC knew the Black Friday game was the 500th consecutive sold-out game ( currently the longest streak in the NHL )

Sweeney is not the core problem - it is Cameron and Charlie. They have lost many good people in the trenches to other teams as they lowball these people.

I don't obsess about 2015 anymore but I am very fearful about the future.

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This is what's most concerning to me. At least Sweeney is qualified on paper and worked his way up the ladder to get to where he is, even though he obviously has his flaws. You could reasonably see Sweeney in a GM role or another executive position with another organization, especially given how the same guys tend to cycle through those jobs.

Any chance another organization would hire Cam Neely as their team president? What are his qualifications to be an executive of a multi-million dollar organization? Would Charlie Jacobs be hired as CEO at any other organization that isn't owned by Daddy? The answer is a resounding NO.

I've seen this sort of thing at a few family run places I've worked over the years and it doesn't end well. You have a hard time retaining talent when the bosses at the top are clearly in over their heads and are only there through nepotism. Smart people can see what's going on and they will move on to better companies.

Best case scenario, beyond the Jacobs selling to a competent owner, would be for them to recognize their limitations and bring in some outside consultants to take stock and make changes. That sort of thing requires you to set egos aside however and has a rough 0% chance of taking place. Our best hope is probably for some faceless conglomerate to swoop in with an offer Charlie can't refuse. Oh joy!

 

[Over the volcano]

The problem is that there will soon be only two of the left

That's one of many problems.

 

[MattFromFranklin]

Any chance another organization would hire Cam Neely as their team president?

I doubt it. He's a mediocre hockey mind who has signed off on several disastrous trades, free agent signings, and draft picks. If he didn't play for the Bruins he wouldn't have this gig.

With that being said, the Old Boys Club mentality in the FO isn't unique to the Bruins. The Oilers did something similar roughly 10 years ago when they were getting 1st overall picks nearly every year.

 

[LouJersey]

Dallas drafted Julius Honka with the 14th pick in 2014. Dylan Larkin was the 15th pick.

Probably cost them a cup.

Could have for sure.

 

[MattFromFranklin]

Could have for sure.

Fun fact: If Larkin was off the board Detroit would have selected Pastrnak. Friedman said on his podcast a few years back that Detroit was debating between the two of them.

 

[b in vancouver]

OT: The 2005 draft always makes me laugh. The pick before or within a few picks after and it would've been very different. Funny because a lot of us were excited about their draft. It was a weak draft, but they just missed out on half the good players taken in that draft. It never killed them, like '15 won't, but it is interesting to think about how different this team could've been.

Lashoff 22 - Oshie 24, Cogliano 25, Niskanen 28, Downie 29 (Rask was 21)
Kalus 39 - Pavelec 41, Abdelkader 42, Paul Statsny 44, Latendresse 45
Lehtonen 83 - Mark Fraser 84, Ben Bishop 85
Jon Sigalet 100 - Jared Boll 101
Sobotka 106 (decent) - Pyatt 107, Hjalmarson 108 (Yandle was 105)
Wacey Rabbit 154 - Mark Fayne 155, Ryan Reaves 156
Vantuch 172 - no one right after D'Agostino went at 190
Brock Bradford 217 - Hornqvist was the last pick at 230. (Stralman was 216)

It happens. Teams screw up.

 

[LouJersey]

2015 honestly wouldn’t be so bad if the Bruins didn’t have three picks in a row.

people don’t seem to get that part of it.

 

[UncleRico]

DeBrusk
Carlo
Lauzon
Zboril
Vladar

Half a defense, a decent scoring wing and a goalie all out of one draft is A+ in a vacuum

Problem is in a redraft, all three of your first round picks wouldn’t be selected where they were. Carlo probably would be higher and Lauzon is currently getting healthy scratched by a first year expansion team.

 

[TD Charlie]

This thread is not healthy.

 

[Eddie Munson]

OT: The 2005 draft always makes me laugh. The pick before or within a few picks after and it would've been very different. Funny because a lot of us were excited about their draft. It was a weak draft, but they just missed out on half the good players taken in that draft. It never killed them, like '15 won't, but it is interesting to think about how different this team could've been.

Lashoff 22 - Oshie 24, Cogliano 25, Niskanen 28, Downie 29 (Rask was 21)
Kalus 39 - Pavelec 41, Abdelkader 42, Paul Statsny 44, Latendresse 45
Lehtonen 83 - Mark Fraser 84, Ben Bishop 85
Jon Sigalet 100 - Jared Boll 101
Sobotka 106 (decent) - Pyatt 107, Hjalmarson 108 (Yandle was 105)
Wacey Rabbit 154 - Mark Fayne 155, Ryan Reaves 156
Vantuch 172 - no one right after D'Agostino went at 190
Brock Bradford 217 - Hornqvist was the last pick at 230. (Stralman was 216)

It happens. Teams screw up.

While I completely agree. I think the main issue a lot of people have with 2015 is the fact that it was expected to be a franchise altering draft class and with the core of this group aging, it was a great opportunity to add a few more years to the current window as well as set the team up moving forward once this core has moved on.

Instead, we're left wondering if our window is already closed and who besides Pastrnak, Swayman, McAvoy will lead this team in the future when Bergeron, Marchand, retire. We already see how difficult it is with Krejci gone. Now imagine adding Bergeron to that list.

People strikeout in baseball all the time. But when it's 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, and you're down by a run, they tend to hurt more.

 

[MattFromFranklin]

While I completely agree. I think the main issue a lot of people have with 2015 is the fact that it was expected to be a franchise altering draft class and with the core of this group aging, it was a great opportunity to add a few more years to the current window as well as set the team up moving forward once this core has moved on.

Instead, we're left wondering if our window is already closed and who besides Pastrnak, Swayman, McAvoy will lead this team in the future when Bergeron, Marchand, retire. We already see how difficult it is with Krejci gone. Now imagine adding Bergeron to that list.

People strikeout in baseball all the time. But when it's 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, and you're down by a run, they tend to hurt more.

What hurts the most is that it was a loaded draft (even at the time) and 2 of the easiest picks imaginable fell into their lap and they whiffed, relatively speaking. This franchise will likely never have the opportunity to have 3 selections in the top half of a loaded draft ever again.

 

[BigBadBruins7708]

2015 honestly wouldn’t be so bad if the Bruins didn’t have three picks in a row.

people don’t seem to get that part of it.

This. 2015 is not your regular monday morning QB'ing

They had THREE picks in a row and passed on the BPA every pick. Including a Top 10 elite C that fell in their laps, which as (and still is) the biggest team need. People are pissed because Barzal checked both boxes possible, he was by far the BPA and he was the team's biggest need. No matter the draft philosophy taken, he should've been 1 of the THREE picks.

I think the main issue a lot of people have with 2015 is the fact that it was expected to be a franchise altering draft class

Technically it has been franchise altering for the Bruins...just down

 

[b in vancouver]

While I completely agree. I think the main issue a lot of people have with 2015 is the fact that it was expected to be a franchise altering draft class and with the core of this group aging, it was a great opportunity to add a few more years to the current window as well as set the team up moving forward once this core has moved on.

Instead, we're left wondering if our window is already closed and who besides Pastrnak, Swayman, McAvoy will lead this team in the future when Bergeron, Marchand, retire. We already see how difficult it is with Krejci gone. Now imagine adding Bergeron to that list.

People strikeout in baseball all the time. But when it's 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, and you're down by a run, they tend to hurt more.

I get it. I generally try to stay out of '15 conversations as it's circular conversations and essentially just which level of disappointment people are still at with it.
But started posting about recent drafting yesterday, and trying to put some of it in context, which reminded me of '05. I just thought I'd toss it into this thread.
Completely different context for sure and not comparable in a lot of ways, but in hindsight, that '05 is hilariously bad with what could have been.

More just playing around with my hazy memory.

 

[The National]

2015 honestly wouldn’t be so bad if the Bruins didn’t have three picks in a row.

people don’t seem to get that part of it.

And the fact that they accumulated these picks for a GM that is a month into his first GM job.

 

[MattFromFranklin]

I think most fans, including myself, would let this draft go if those who were responsible for this abomination were held accountable. Sweeney, Neely, Malkoc, Nadeau, etc.

 

[BTO]

While I completely agree. I think the main issue a lot of people have with 2015 is the fact that it was expected to be a franchise altering draft class and with the core of this group aging, it was a great opportunity to add a few more years to the current window as well as set the team up moving forward once this core has moved on.

Instead, we're left wondering if our window is already closed and who besides Pastrnak, Swayman, McAvoy will lead this team in the future when Bergeron, Marchand, retire. We already see how difficult it is with Krejci gone. Now imagine adding Bergeron to that list.

People strikeout in baseball all the time. But when it's 2 outs in the bottom of the 9th, bases loaded, and you're down by a run, they tend to hurt more.

Or when there’s zero outs and you strike out three times in a row.

 

[Fire Sweeney]

Cost the Bruins a cup, but it’s over, can’t even drum up the emotion to think about it anymore

Add Barzal, Connor, Chabot and Dave Lewis could have coached this potential Bruins team to a dynasty.

 

[McGarnagle]

2015 honestly wouldn’t be so bad if the Bruins didn’t have three picks in a row.

people don’t seem to get that part of it.

Yeah. Whenever someone posts a cope like "23 OTHER TEAMS PASSED ON PASTRNAK THE YEAR BEFORE" or something like that, it annoys me because it's not even close to the same.

Sometimes teams reach, sometimes guys with high central scouting ratings bust, sometimes guys who go lower in the draft break out bigtime.

But when you have a pretty much unanimous consensus that at least two forwards with all-star talent fell into your lap with three consecutive picks and you decide to forego both of them for reaches, that's why people make fun of Sweeney to this day and won't let us hear the end of it. Barzal and Connor were not only by far the best players available there, they were exactly what the Bruins needed too - a versatile center and a scoring wing. Like, if you loved Debrusk and thought he could be a diamond in the rough and perform higher than his draft slot, okay. If you thought Senyshyn would be better than his late-second round projection and wanted to steal him before someone else did, I guess it's alright. You have three picks, you could go off the board for a homerun swing, but you don't do it twice in a row and you don't do it with universal consensus blue chip top line talent sitting there.

Zboril went where he should've. Took him this long to emerge as an NHL player, but I can't complain about that pick, he went right where he was slotted to go. It's the following two picks. If you went Barzal/Senyshyn or Connor/Debrusk, or any combination like that, we could live with it. But to go for two homerun swings and strike out with the bases loaded, that's why we seemingly can't ever let this subject go, 7 years onward.

 

[MattFromFranklin]

Yeah. Whenever someone posts a cope like "23 OTHER TEAMS PASSED ON PASTRNAK THE YEAR BEFORE" or something like that, it annoys me because it's not even close to the same.

Agreed.

2014 was not a bad draft by any means, but it wasn't viewed at the time as a strong draft. It also had 2 wildcards - Pastrnak and DeAngelo, that slipped. Pastrnak due to injury (he had a concussion) and DeAngelo due to his attitude. Craig Button said that Pastrnak would've gone higher if it wasn't for his concussion.

2015 was viewed AT THE TIME by many in the hockey community as a very deep draft, and quite a few analysts said it was the best since 2003.

 

[Babajingo]

Dallas drafted Julius Honka with the 14th pick in 2014. Dylan Larkin was the 15th pick.

Probably cost them a cup.

Good point. But Dallas didn't have the 12th 13th and 14th picks to pick Larkin. I understand a reach, but when you have the chance to hedge your reach with an all star talent with the next pick, that's idiotic.

 

[Mathews28]

This draft had been rehashed…and rehushed…in many an unrelated thread. I haven’t been one to dig through old threads for reactions but cool to see some of the immediate reactions all in one place, very eye opening at the accuracy and lack thereof in some folks takes.

You react and comment based on what you know and feel at the time, so no judging. Some were more right than others simply because they ALWAYS call each move a screw up…bound to be on target sometimes, but doesn’t mean their analysis was all that insightful. Same for those calling the first round a massive success early on…that’s what they saw, same as the scouts and FO saw though…although I was surprised who said what in some cases.

Would have expected to see more “let’s wait and see”…this was far more polarizing than I remembered at the time.

 

[Fenian24]

I see 4 years ago I stated that this draft would set them back 5 to 8 years and Sweeney was an idiot.

I was called a fraud among other things.

4 years later the draft set the Bruins back at least 8 years and Sweeney has proven what an idiot he is.

Yup.

 

[Olden McGroin]

This thread is not healthy.

This. But it will continue to be discussed until:

A) They win the Cup; or

B) Another team has a worse first round draft

I imagine A) is more likely