The Boston Bruins looked to the future ahead of the 2015 NHL Draft, cutting ties with a potential cornerstone defenceman in Dougie Hamilton and rugged winger Milan Lucic in a pair of trades.
The Bruins ended up with three first-round picks in a row, and used the 13th, 14th, and 15th picks on defenceman Jakub Zboril and forwards Jake DeBrusk and Zachary Senyshyn.
All three of the Bruins’ first-round picks failed a conditioning test on Thursday, Joe Haggerty at Comcast Sportsnet reports.
Zboril, DeBrusk, and Senyshyn failed to complete six back-and-forth 300 metre sprints in under one minute per each run. The trio of 18-year-olds even had three minutes of rest between each sprint. Rest easy though, Bruins fans, the elements may have played a pivotal role in the prospects’ seemingly inadequate running ability.
Haggerty reports the test took place on a wet, slippery turf surface, which is hardly ideal. Still, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney stressed that there’s work to be done with his haul of 2015 draft picks.
“There’s still an educational process [here],” Sweeney said. “These are young kids, and they need to understand they are now being evaluated as pros.
“Really it’s about going forward for each and every one of them. Some guys will return to their junior teams with the expectation next year that they have to pass. We expect them to pass,” he said. “They’ll have to do some work as a result of it. But it’s still an educational process as far as their personal growth.”
The Bruins held the 14th overall pick heading into the draft. They acquired the 13th overall selection, along with goaltender Martin Jones, defence prospect Colin Miller in exchange for Lucic. Sweeney grabbed the 15th overall pick and two second-rounders from the Calgary Flames in the Hamilton trade.
