By: Ryan Bosworth | Follow me on Twitter / X @RyanJBosworth
Yesterday, Bruins’ general manager Don Sweeney held a press conference ahead of the 2025 National Hockey League Entry Draft, which is taking place out in Los Angeles. Throughout the press conference, Sweeney yielded questions about the draft, free agency, free agent extensions, and more. In terms of the Bruins’ 7th overall pick in this years draft, Sweeney made his intentions clear.
“We feel very comfortable with making a selection, but we’re going to continue to see what might present between now and then,” Sweeney stated in his pre-draft presser. “We’ve had a lot of discussions over the last month. A month and a half, potential options with that pick, are still exploring them as of today, probably just as of tomorrow as well.”
With that, Sweeney is making it very clear that nothing is off the table when it comes to the Bruins drafting 7th overall and making the selection, using it to move up or down, or trading it away for an NHL roster-ready player that would make a more immediate impact in the Black and Gold.
With the draft taking place tonight, Sweeney isn’t working with time on his side, but that doesn’t necessarily hinder his ability to have options with the 7th overall pick, as trades happen right up until a team’s time to make their selection.
During the press conference, Sweeney also gave some clarification as to who they’d be taking at the time they go to make their pick. “Yeah, we’re taking the best player,” Sweeney said. The Bruins’ biggest area of need is the top-line center position.
He went on to state, “One young men in the top part of the draft played primarily on the wing in a pro league this year. So, is he a center down the road? Yes. But you also have players that are currently in the National Hockey League that were earmarked as centers that are really effective wingers as well and creating from the wing. I don’t think it’s just a married position to the player.”
Sweeney isn’t locked into one specific player at the time of making their pick, regardless of his position. If the best player available is a winger, it seems as though, assuming they’ll make their selection, they’re going to be taking the winger.
Sweeney did offer some clarity about options they wouldn’t entertain with the 7th overall pick, and that’s acquiring a short-term player with a “win-now” mindset. “I don’t think it’s a short-term acquisition that we’d be inclined to make at this point in time,” he stated in the presser. Sweeney seems to have the right mindset heading into the draft, as he isn’t trading the pick away for a short-term rental player and he’s going to use the pick to get the biggest return.
With the draft set for tonight and lots of speculation around teams looking to move around, it will be interesting to see what moves Sweeney makes to better the Boston Bruins. You can find coverage of the draft on ESPN, ESPN+, and NHL Network.
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