The Boston Bruins had to wait nearly three hours to make their first pick of Day 2 of the NHL Draft, but when their number was called, they selected center Brett Harrison.
Don Sweeney used Boston’s third-round pick, which was 85th overall, on the 6-foot-2, 188-pound pivot.
Harrison was among the players displaced by the OHL’s season cancellation, so he played sparingly this past season. The 18-year-old did end up playing eight games in Finland on a loan.
Prognosticators had him all over the map as to where he ranked leading into the draft, but the NHL Central Scouting put him at 50th among North American Skaters.
His big build has helped him work over opponents, and he has a dart of a shot that he loves to use from the slot. In 2019-20, Harrison has 21 goals and 16 assists in 58 games.
The Bruins surrendered their second-round pick (and Anders Bjork) to the Buffalo Sabres earlier this season in the trade that brought Taylor Hall and Curtis Lazar to Boston. The Sabres used the pick to take Russian left winger Aleksandr Kisakov with the 53rd overall selection.
