It will take a few years before we can accurately judge the quality of the Boston Bruins’ 2025 draft class. But in the short term, at least on paper, it appears the Bruins did pretty well over the last two days in Los Angeles.
The Bruins very much needed to bolster their talent and depth at center in this draft, so it wasn’t surprising to see them select centers with their first two picks.
The B’s were fortunate that Boston College star James Hagens — the No. 1 ranked prospect in the 2025 class before the season — fell to them at No. 7. He tallied 37 points (11 goals, 26 assists) in 37 games for the Eagles last season and projects to be a top-six center at the NHL level.
Boston selected another center — William Moore — with the No. 51 overall pick in Round 2. Some experts had Moore ranked as a top-35 prospect in this class, so the Bruins getting him at No. 51 was pretty good value.
The Bruins’ other second-round pick was Swedish defenseman Liam Pettersson at No. 61 overall. He is a good offensive player and moves the puck well, but he has plenty of room for improvement defensively.
The Bruins’ third-round pick was left wing Cooper Simpson, whose 49 goals in 31 games led all Minnesota high school players last season. He has committed to the University of North Dakota.
Boston added another d-man in Vashek Blanar with the No. 100 overall pick in the fourth round. He has tremendous size at 6-foot-4 and 183 pounds.
The B’s took another center in the fifth round with the selection of Cole Chandler at No. 133 overall. Chandler tallied 32 points (13 goals, 19 assists) in 64 games for the Shawinigan Cataractes of the QMJHL last season.
The Bruins’ final pick at No. 165 overall in the sixth round was Russian center Kirill Yemelyanov, bringing the total number of centers drafted by Boston to four.
The Bruins made at least one pick in each of the first three rounds of the draft. The last time they did that was 2015. With seven players taken, this draft class is the Bruins’ largest since 2021 (also seven players).
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney also made two trades Saturday. He dealt the No. 69 pick to the Montreal Canadiens for the No. 79 and No. 108 picks. He then traded the No. 108 pick to the Tampa Bay Lightning for a 2026 fourth-rounder.
The full list of the Bruins’ 2025 draft picks is below:
