Here’s where the Bruins will pick in the 2021 NHL Draft
The Bruins are set to make seven picks in the 2021 NHL Draft but could also lose defenseman Jeremy Lauzon to the newly-founded Seattle Kraken.
The Boston Bruins are already on the prowl to strengthen their squad for the 2021-22 season with the team reportedly looking to re-sign Taylor Hall to a long-term extension.
But that’s not the only way the Bruins will look to improve this week.
The puck drops for the 2021 NHL Draft this week, with the first round beginning this Friday evening. The Bruins own seven selections, including the No. 21 overall pick in the draft.
The team does not own a second-round pick this year after sending it to the Buffalo Sabres to acquire Hall and Curtis Lazar at the trade deadline. But they managed to pick up an extra seventh-round pick from the Toronto Maple Leafs in a trade last year.
The Bruins could also stand to lose one of their players this weekend, though not because of a trade.
The 2021 season will mark the first for the Seattle Kraken, the NHL’s newest expansion franchise. The league will hold an expansion draft Wednesday night in which the Kraken will be allowed to pick one player from 30 teams – the Vegas Golden Knights are exempt from this poaching since they themselves recently joined the NHL in 2017.
The latest rumors suggest 24-year-old defenseman Jérémy Lauzon may be the player Seattle snags from the Bruins after the team opted not to protect him under the expansion draft guidelines.
Once Wednesday’s expansion draft ends, the Bruins can officially set their minds toward who they’ll be adding during the soon-to-be 32-team draft Friday.
Here’s a list of the Bruins’ picks in the 2021 NHL Draft:
No. 21 overall (Round 1), No. 85 (Round 3), No. 117 (Round 4), No. 149 (Round 5), No. 181 (Round 6), No. 213, No. 217 (Round 7).