After years of sacrificing first- and second-round draft picks in pursuit of the elusive Stanley Cup, the Bruins believe they’ve now taken a big step toward replenishing their prospect coffers in this weekend’s NHL draft, in which the haul was four centers, a pair of defensemen, and a left wing.

It’s been a long time coming, but after the team finally slipped out of contention for the first time in nine years, it had to be done. While GM Don Sweeney explored using some picks to pick up a roster player, they kept their No. 7 pick, choosing James Hagens on Friday, and then used both their second-round picks on center William Moore and defenseman Liam Pettersson.

“It’s been a long time since we’ve gone with a little bit of volume,” said Sweeney. “It didn’t stop us from trying to move back or going up in the draft to target some players we felt we might get in position to take rather that just the volume aspect of things. But the excitement is there. You get that with our scouting staff in general, with the disappointing season we had, there was energy in realizing we have to take advantage of missteps the club had.”

There was also an emphasis on high-end skill and competitiveness, which was made possible by their better drafting positions, according to director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau.

“I think having more picks and some higher picks allowed us to probably look at some players with a little more offensive ability and upside that sometimes in the areas that we tended to be picking, we didn’t have some of those players available, or some of those players that were (available), there’s a lot of risk associated sometimes with that player, whether they’re undersized or there’s a major lack of detail in their game, where there are other players sitting at the same spot that you really appreciate their attention to detail, their heaviness, their hardness,” said Nadeau. “We didn’t shy away from that, but I just think we ended up in a spot where we could really take some swings at some higher-upside offensive players that maybe in the past we hadn’t had as many swings on that style of player.”

To start the day on Saturday, the Bruins added another prospect into the Chestnut Hill-to-Causeway Street pipeline with the 51st pick.

In the second round, the B’s selected Moore, a 6-2, 175-pound center who played for the U.S. National Team Development program. From Mississauga, Ontario, he is a dual citizen of the Canada and the U.S. and will be headed to Boston College in the fall.

Moore is known for his intelligence, on and off the ice. If there’s such a thing as an 18-year-old Renaissance man, Moore is that. He is also an accomplished pianist and violinist while, in the athletic realm, he’s played soccer (thanks in part to his Brazilian mother), tennis and lacrosse before zeroing on his hockey.

“(Piano) was the first thing I tried, hockey was one of the last,” said the personable Moore. “It brings a lot of creativity to my game. Hands-wise, I think I’m very skilled with the puck and I think I have a lot of finesse and I have that on the keys, too. I think there’s a lot of translation. I played a lot earlier on but nowadays its more of a leisure thing. It’s tough to fit into a busy hockey schedule. But it’s been a big part of my life and I’ve still got it.”

Moore called being selected by the Bruins “incredible” after he had already chosen Boston for his college choice. Moore, whose family moved around a lot before laying down some roots in the hockey-mad Toronto area, gave his own self-scout.

“I think I have a very unique play-style,” said Moore, the first person in his family to play hockey. “I have a big frame that’s still filling out but I think I have a sort of high IQ and a creative aspect to my game, a lot of offensive skill and creativity and a lot of finesse. Big frame, very dynamic offensively and I’m just looking to bring that 200-foot game but also my offensive game. I’m super-excited.”

He joins Hagens, Dean Letourneau Oskar Jellvik, Andre Gasseau and Kristian Kostadinski, selected by the B’s last year, and will be an incoming freshman, as current or future Eagles in the B’s prospect pool.

Moore posted 27-32-59 totals in 54 games.

With their second pick in the second round (61st), the B’s chose Swedish defenseman Pettersson. At 6-2, 170 pounds, Pettersson clearly needs to fill out a bit and, as a left shot, he doesn’t address an organizational need at right D, though Sweeney pointed out that many left shots can play the right side. While he may not project to be a high-end prospect, his strength is in his transition game. He had 6-15-21 totals for the Vaxjo Lakers junior team.

The B’s then moved their third-round pick (69th) to Montreal for the 79th and 108th picks.

With the 79th pick, the B’s chose American left wing Cooper Simpson, who played Minnesota high school hockey, ripping it up for Shakopee High with 49 goals and 34 assists in 31 games. His shoot-first mindset was apparent with the Tri-City Storm of the USHL, when he had seven goals and one assist in nine games.

“I think I’m a very offensively talented guy. I think I make plays other people can’t see and I shoot the puck very well,” said Simpson. “I stayed at Shakopee because I’m born and raised here. I had a goal of making the state tournament and winning it all and I came up a little short. But I think I left Shakopee a better place than I found it, so that’s the ultimate goal there. At Tri-City, I knew a lot of the guys going there so I had a confidence boost there, and being able to score goals at a high level helps you be confident and it went well there, so it’s good.”

The 6-1, 179-pound Simpson is committed to go to North Dakota, though it sounded like the B’s want him to do another year of development in junior before going to Grand Forks after the club had watched last year’s first-rounder Letourneau struggle in taking a big leap from Canadian prep school St. Andrew’s and going directly to BC.

With the 100th pick, the B’s took 6-foot-4, 183-pound left shot defenseman Vashek Blanar, a Czechia-produced player who played in Sweden, and then traded the 108th pick to the Lightning for a fourth-rounder in 2026.

The B’s selected center Cole Chandler, a 6-foot-2, 176-pound center who had 13-19-32 totals in 64 games for Shawinigan of the QMJHL, with the 133rd pick. Chandler’s regular season totals were modest but he then heated up in the Q playoffs, notching 5-7-12 totals in 16 games.

Finally, with the 165th pick, the B’s chose 6-foot, 170-pound Russian centerman Kirill Yemelyanov, billed by Elite Prospects as a smart two-way centerman.

Originally Published: June 28, 2025 at 1:06 PM EDT