Writer Predicts Bruins To Pick This Prospect In 2021 NHL Draft First Round

The Boston Bruins will make one prospect the newest member of their organization at the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.

But who will that player be?

ESPN’s Greg Wyshinski predicted Thursday in his final 2021 NHL Mock Draft the Bruins will select Zachary Bolduc with the 21st overall pick. Bolduc most recently played center for Rimouski in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. Wyshynski reckons the Bruins might try and add offensive “sizzle” to their farm system by picking Bolduc.

“Again, we fully expect the Bruins will go defense here, as there aren’t a ton of impact offensive skill guys this far down in the first round,” Wyshynski wrote. “But Bolduc does fit that bill. TSN has him as a top-20 prospect and the seventh-best center.”

Drafting Bolduc would break from the Bruins’ recent norm, under which they’ve selected defensemen in the first rounds of five of their six drafts under current general manager Don Sweeney. With that in mind, Wyshynski floats another option Boston might consider if it is to follow that well-worn path.

“… it’s a tradition we see continuing here with (Corson) Ceulemans (of the Alberta Junior Hockey League’s Brooks Bandits), a 6-foot-2 University of Wisconsin commit who plays strong in his own end,” Wyshynski wrote.

The 2021 NHL Draft will begin at 8 p.m. ET on Friday.

Bruins training camp will open in September, and their six-game preseason schedule will open Sept. 26.