ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Bruins spent their first three draft picks on Ontario Hockey League products. For their fourth choice, they tapped into a less well-known hockey hotbed, drafting Jacksonville, Fla., native Brian Ferlin with the 121st pick.
"My dad's actually born and raised in Chicago, so he played growing up, and then he played college baseball down in Jacksonville, which is where I'm from, so it's where we live now," Ferlin said in a phone interview with a pool reporter.
"Obviously I'm from down in Florida, which is a little bit of a, not a hockey hotbed, I guess you could say," Ferlin added before describing his style of play. "I think I'm more of a power forward-type player, work hard in the corners and use my body to get the puck and stuff like that, but I think I try to play with a little speed as well, so I'll see what I can do."
Ferlin is a 6-foot-2, 207-pounder who played for the Indiana Ice of the United States Hockey League, where he put up 25-48-73 totals in 55 games. He was ranked just 152nd among North American skaters by NHL Central Scouting, but the Bruins obviously saw something they liked in him, and Ferlin is more than happy to be part of Boston's organization.
"It was a thrill to hear my name called, especially by them, obviously, coming off winning the Cup," Ferlin said. "I don't think I could be in a better situation."
Before he gets to Boston, Ferlin will take his skills to the college game, having committed to play for Cornell next year.
"Ferlin is a power forward," Bruins assistant general manager Jim Benning said. "He does the things that we covet. He's strong along the wall. He's strong protecting the puck. He takes pucks to the net. He ended up third in the USHL in scoring, so he had a good year. He's going to Cornell next year, but he's a guy we see as a power forward playing in the NHL someday."
