For all the people who think the Bruins prospect depth is weak, take a look at this. This is a depth chart of the Bruins' drafted/contracted players who are 24 years and younger.
Down the middle:
They have an extremely deep centre when looking at prospects. Spooner and Koko are in front. Heinen is a sophmore in college who tore it up last year and is turning many heads in Denver. Czarnik was a final cut for the roster this year. Ryan Fitzgerald, is ranked last, and that's saying something, I would send out a fair warning to all NCAA lovers, he plays for BC, is a Boston boy, and tore it up last year.
Left side, strong side (Remember the Titans reference):
Jake DeBrusk was a very good draft choice and will be in years to come a prominent scorer for the Bruins. Vatrano is in his first AHL year and is in the top 5 point getters already in the AHL. Camara was a Canadian world junior player, who can hit with force.
Right Wing:
The Bruins do not have much depth when it comes to right winged prospects (TRADE SEIDY FOR BRETT RITCHIE PLEASEEEEE). But of course they already have three NHLers, in Pastrnak (who will be amazing in years to come, and with maturity), Connolly seems to be picking it up, 3 games, 3 goals and Tyler Randell is turning many heads. Ferlin is a very good role player, and although everyone shat on the Bruins for picking Senyshyn, he scored 9 points in 3 games during dev. camp, and I have high hopes for him (and he has really good hands).
Defence:
Someway, somehow the Bruins managed to give up Dougie Hamilton and win. The future number 1 dman is playing bottom 4 minutes on a horrible CGY team, that is looking to tear down its franchise. They drafted another future top 2 dman in Zboril, and through the Hamilton trade (which led to the Lucic trade) got Collin Miller, a right handed dman who can move the puck very well. The defensive depth for the Bruins prospect is extremely deep. Led by Krug, Morrow, Miller and Zboril, the defensive prospects are ridiculously good. Brandon Carlo is 18 years old and was a very underrated draft pick this year, Jeremy Lauzon is 18 years old as well, is big, and like Carlo will eventually tear it up and Arnesson and Grezlyck are both big boys who have played in the world juniors, know how to win, and can be very good shut down dmen. Grezlyck even has the upside that he knows how to put the puck in the net.
Goaltending:
Not much needs to be said about the Bruins top prospect, Subban. McIntyre was phenomenal in college and will be NHL ready sooner rather than later. Lastly, Vladar, who is a pretty unknown prospect, was drafted in the third round and is very big and has very quick lateral movement.
There you have it, the Bruins under 24 roster. I'd say a rebuild isn't necessary, more like a re-tool, combine these players with prime aged players like Bergie, Marchy, Tuuk, Hayes, Belesky and Quaider and you have yourself a strong force in the Boston Bruins.
Excellent analysis. I've been preaching about the Bruins prospect depth for months. Before the trades that added two first rounders, I wanted them to take Carlo with their first. They ended up getting him in the 2nd. Steal. The three first rounders will all be solid players and JFK projects as a Bergeron-type two-way player. Some considered Daniel Vladar the best goalie in the draft. They killed the draft this year and have two first rounders next year as of right now.
At the NHL level, if you've been watching the B's this year, you can tell that Pastrak, Spooner, Connolly, Colin Miller, and Morrow are legitimate NHL contributors, and everyone knows about Krug. Even Randell looks like he could be a 4th line mainstay.
Down in Providence, Khokhlachev is the AHL's leading scorer with Vatrano not far behind. I think Koko is a prime trade piece, but regardless he's an excellent prospect. I'm a big Seth Griffith fan too. Arnesson has big upside as well Czarnik and Acciari were great college players, and Tommy Cross looked good in his NHL debut. He's a low-risk, low-reward guy. Same with Ferlin. However, I wouldn't bank on Anthony Camara. He's a bust. I'm not a huge Subban fan, and I think he will be traded sooner rather than later, but I love McIntyre.
I think NCAA is the real unrealized strength of the system though. Grzelcyk and Sean Kuraly are seniors who will contribute in Providence before the end of the season this year. Danton Heinen was a revelation last year, as was Rob O'Gara. Fitzgerald and Donato are both young Boston-blooded boys who will play for the B's at some point.
Speaking of Boston blood, the B's still need a young power forward. Moving up to get Matt Tkachuk next year would be clutch. Though a right shot would be better and Julien Gauthier looks like he's would be a perfect fit.
Only issues with your analysis (besides some key missing guys) is that Florek and Lindblad are not in the B's system anymore.
But yeah, the Bruins prospect system is stacked and anyone who says otherwise really doesn't know what they're talking about.
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