By: Neil Simmons | Follow me on Twitter / X: @NSimmz
Yes, we’ve talked about them ad nauseam. Boston College is loaded with Bruins draft picks this year, especially up front. There isn’t much more that could be said about James Hagens, Andre Gasseau, Oskar Jellvik, William Moore, and Dean Letourneau without repeating ourselves. There will be more eyes on them this season than before for a variety of reasons, but behind all of them is a big, looming presence on the blueline who won’t receive the same praise but could prove to be a key contributor in his freshman year.
Kristian Kostadinski comes to Chestnut Hill loaded with game and leadership experience. Drafted in the seventh round (#220) of the 2023 NHL Draft, Kostadinski is a massive human. BC’s official roster lists him at 6’6” 235lbs, clearing Will Skahan as the tallest and heaviest defenseman by an inch and 12lbs, and an inch short of matching Dean Letourneau for tallest overall.
EliteProspecs described Kostadinski as “tall, has range, and can play physical,” and highlighted his ability to make breakout passes under pressure. BNG colleague Tom Calautti described him more eloquently after covering Bruins Development Camp a few months back:
“Kostadinski is an absolute monster. If you like defensemen who play the body, protect the house, and physically dominate in their own zone, then he’s your guy. As a low-event, defensive defenseman, he thrives by taking away time and space, eliminating forecheckers to stop transitions and cycles in their tracks. He has work to do as a puck mover and facilitator, but that should be a major focus of the coaching staff at BC. He has a wicked slapper that he needs to find the net more often, but overall, he’s a fun defenseman to watch.”
He rose through the youth system with Frolunda HC in his native Sweden, playing at the U16, J18, and J20 levels. He served as team captain for the J20 squad in 2023-24, which included fellow Bruins draft pick Casper Nassen, and even made his debut in three Swedish Hockey League (SHL) playoff games with the senior team that season.
Coming over to North America the following year, Kostadinski joined the Dubuque Fighting Saints of the United States Hockey League (USHL), serving as an alternate captain and recording 6-10-16 and a +25 rating in 66 games. With Dubuque, Kostadinski once again teamed up with other NCAA-bound Bruins prospects, skating with Cole Spicer and Jonathan Morello.
Kostadinski will be coming into a BC lineup that is replacing two key pillars of the blueline in Eamon Powell and Aidan Hreschuk. Both were long-term stalwarts for the Eagles, with Hreschuk skating in 146 career games and Powell playing a program record 170 games, due to the extra COVID year. Returning defensemen Drew Fortescue, Aram Minnetian, co-captain Lukas Gustafsson, and Will Skahan should anchor the top two pairings on defense, leaving the third pair an open competition between Kostadinski, Nolan Joyce, Michael Hagens, and fellow freshman Luka Radivojevic.
Kostadinski’s biggest advantage will be his size and aforementioned stay-at-home style of defense, particularly since the Eagles are likely to rely more heavily on their defense to win games this coming season, compared to the last few years. The early departure of Mike Richter Award-winning goaltender Jacob Fowler has compounded their losses up front, with significant question marks in net added to their need to replace offense.
Jan Korec, the most experienced netminder on the BC roster, has only played in seven career games over his first two seasons. Slotting Kostadinski, who has a 5” and nearly 30lb edge on his positional competitors, into the lineup to protect the house, could surely help the Eagles’ back end settle in quickly for another Hockey East and NCAA Tournament run.
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