What if I told you that one of the biggest choke jobs in recent Boston sports was in the first round of the 2015 NHL draft?

 Just a season after missing the playoffs in 2014-2015, the Boston Bruins decided to stack up on first round picks. After accumulating three first round picks, the Bruins looked focused on the future. Now, six years later let’s take a look at how the Bruins brutally swung and missed on the 2015 draft. 

With the thirteenth pick in the draft, the Bruins selected defenseman, Jakub Zboril. After six years, Zboril finally broke into the NHL as a top six defensemen for the Bruins. In 31 games this season, Zboril has a total of seven points. Although he is slowly becoming an everyday player, chances are if the Bruins never lost Zdeno Chara and Torey Krug in the offseason, Zboril likely would either be sitting in the AHL, or being discussed in trades right about now.

With the fourteenth pick in the draft, the Bruins selected forward Jake DeBrusk. DeBrusk was probably the only respectable pick by the B’s in the first round in 2015. However, since his rookie season, DeBrusk’s production has been on a steady decline to the point where now in his fourth NHL season, he has been nearly invisible when he plays. In 21 games, he has had three goals and four assists, and unfortunately, he has been plagued with injuries. Despite his struggles, I do believe that DeBrusk is a valuable player, but I think that it might be best for the Bruins and for DeBrusk if he were traded come the April 12 deadline.

With the 15th pick in the draft, the Bruins selected forward, Zack Senyshyn. When drafted, Senyshyn was widely known as the biggest reach in the entire 2015 draft, and it is clear to see why that was. Since he was drafted, Senyshyn has played in a total of 11 NHL games, while posting just three points. Senyshyn has great size and speed, but his overall talent is not where it should be for a mid-first round pick, especially knowing who was still on the draft boards.

Now that we have reminded ourselves of who the Bruins selected in the first round, let’s take a look at the players the Bruins passed up on and how they have fared so far in their NHL careers. This ought to be fun!

(Sixteenth pick) Mathew Barzal, Forward (271 GP, 72 G, 168 A)

(Seventeenth pick) Kyle Connor, Forward (286 GP, 122 G, 115 A)

(Eighteenth pick) Thomas Chabot, Defenseman (239 GP, 33 G, 107 A)

(Twenty-third pick) Brock Boeser, Forward (234 GP, 91 G, 103 A)

(Twenty-fourth pick) Travis Konecny, Forward (328 GP, 90 G, 116 A)

(Thirty-fifth pick) Sebastian Aho, Forward (345 GP, 136 G, 160 A)

(Seventy-second pick) Anthony Cirelli, Forward (198 GP, 49 G, 66 A)

(Hundred and thirty-fifth pick) Kirill Kaprizov, Forward (35 GP, 13 G, 17 A)

Now let’s compare that to the Bruins first round picks:

(Thirteenth pick) Jakub Zboril, Defenseman (31 GP, 0 G, 7 A)

(Fourteenth pick) Jake DeBrusk, Forward (224 GP, 65 G, 62 A)

(Fifteenth pick) Zach Senyshyn, Forward (11 GP, 1 G, 2 A)

As a Bruins fan, these stats should sadden you. If the Bruins front office could have at least picked one of the players listed above, let alone picked three of them, the Bruins would have yet another Stanley Cup title to their name in 2019. One of the biggest flaws the Bruins had when playing the St. Louis Blues in the finals just two years ago was that they could not muster much five-on-five offense. Adding one or two of the players listed above would have helped dramatically in that series. Unfortunately, Bruins fans are left wondering what might have been as the 2015 draft will haunt the Bruins for years to come.