Bruins As Bruins bottom out, focus turns to maximizing NHL Draft odds for franchise savior The Bruins currently have a 6.5 percent shot of landing the No. 1 pick in the 2025 NHL Draft. Don Sweeney and the Bruins have plenty of work to do this summer. Jessica Rinaldi/Globe Staff
Joe Sacco focused on the positives on Tuesday before his team made the trek out west for a five-game road trip.
“You can also just look at three points right now. That’s what’s separating us from the last wild card spot right now as we stand here today,” Sacco noted. “To me, that should be one of our focuses and it is one of our focuses as a group, to make sure we understand that we’re still in the thick of things here and nothing changes for us as far as our mindset in how we prepare and how we get ready for games.”
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Less than a week later, the Bruins are technically not eliminated from playoff contention.
But the writing’s on the wall that a Bruins roster that dealt five lineup regulars at the trade deadline is ready to accept that short-term gains were relinquished for (hopefully) greater returns in the future.
Since elevating expectations post-deadline by beating both the Lightning and Panthers in regulation, the Bruins have now lost six games in a row.
Following a 7-2 drubbing doled out by the Kings on Sunday night in Los Angeles, the Bruins have now dropped 14 of their last 17 games.
MoneyPuck has Boston tabbed with a zero percent shot of making the postseason, with the Bruins now six points out of the final wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference with just 10 games left on their regular-season docket.
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As far as points percentage is concerned, the Bruins (.479) are closer to the cellar-dwelling Sabres (.449) in the Eastern Conference than a Canadiens team (.543) currently clinging to the final playoff spot in the Eastern Conference.
In other words, any hope of the Bruins hosting playoff hockey this spring is all but snuffed out — and it’s time to look to the future.
The Bruins’ efforts to retool their roster for 2025-26 remains an ongoing process over these final 10 games of the regular season.
Boston has been able to glean more about what deadline additions like Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittelstadt could offer next winter, while pending UFA Henri Jokiharju has generally helped stabilize a D pairing when stapled next to Nikita Zadorov.
As the Bruins navigate through what amounts to consequence-free matchups over these final three weeks, Boston has the rare window to see if younger players like Fabian Lysell have the mettle to earn greater roles moving forward.
But make no mistake: these next 10 games are destined to be an arduous watch for fans.
If there’s anything that could assuage the pain from what has been a disastrous season, it would be Boston securing a potential franchise-elevating prospect in the upcoming 2025 NHL Draft.
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Boston’s deadline fire sale has secured a haul of draft picks (two 2025 second-round picks, 2026 first-round pick, 2027 conditional second-round pick), along with a few promising prospects in Fraser Minten and Will Zellers.
But Boston’s own first-round pick this season stands as Boston’s best bet of accelerating what looks to be a multi-year retool.
And while a lackluster Bruins roster continues to be shredded on the ice, this sustained stretch of futility is bolstering their chances of netting a blue-chip talent in late June.
Currently, the Bruins are tied with the Penguins for the seventh-worst points percentage in the league — putting them firmly in the mix for a shot at securing a top-10 pick in the upcoming NHL Draft.
That current standing not only gives Boston a legitimate shot at selecting the seventh or eighth pick in the upcoming draft. It also presents a slim chance for Boston to shoot up the draft leaderboard as a result of the NHL Draft lottery — which is usually held in May.
If the Bruins’ season ended today, here’s a look at where exactly Boston could settle in the draft order in the coming months — per Tankathon.
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No. 1 pick: 6.5 percent
No. 2 pick: 6.7 percent
No. 3 pick: 0.2 percent
No. 7 pick: 44.4 percent
No. 8 pick: 36.5 percent
No. 9 pick: 5.6 percent
Several teams have benefited in recent years from soaring up the draft order by way of the draft lottery.
The New York Rangers lucked out and won the chance to draft first overall in the 2020 NHL Draft in a COVID-impacted year where they finished 18th overall in the league standings.
The Chicago Blackhawks jumped up to first overall in both the 2007 NHL Draft (8.1 percent odds) and 2023 NHL Draft (11.5 percent) en route to selecting Patrick Kane and Connor Bedard, respectively.
As miserable as this current slate might be, another loss for the Bruins on Wednesday night against Anaheim would further solidify their spot on the draft leaderboard — given that the Ducks currently sit just ahead of both the Bruins and Penguins with a .486 points percentage.
Boston could also conceivably move further up the draft leaderboard (and juice up their odds) if the team continues to relinquish points — and both the Penguins and Kraken (.458 points percentage) keep on winning.
The Bruins could conceivably move as far up as fifth overall in the draft order, although the Flyers (1-8-1 in their last 10 games) don’t seem ready to budge from their spot on the draft order.
As painful as this Bruins’ season might be, the potential of Boston securing a top-three pick would be a welcome scenario, especially if it allows a franchise short on high-end skill to select a playmaking talent like Michael Misa (62 goals, 134 points in 65 OHL games with Saginaw) or Boston College freshman center James Hagens.
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And even if the Bruins settle around picks 5-7, it will still offer a chance for the Bruins to land a promising pivot prospect like Caleb Desnoyers, Anton Frondell, Jake O’Brien, or Roger McQueen.
Don Sweeney and Boston’s top brass still have a long road in front of them when it comes to overhauling the Bruins’ roster and adding top young talent via their influx of draft picks.
But as the Bruins try to build a new foundation for the future, coming out of this season with a potential top-five pick would stand as a useful consolation prize in a season short on positives.
Conor Ryan Sports Writer Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.