After finishing near the bottom of the NHL standings in 2024-25, the Boston Bruins were going to have a top-10 pick in the 2025 NHL Entry Draft. What Bruins fans were hoping for was a top-five pick, but when the 2025 Draft Lottery rolled around, Boston ended up with the seventh-overall pick despite finishing 28th.
Related: 2025 NHL Draft Guide
The New York Islanders, who finished five spots ahead of the Bruins, earned the first-overall pick, while the Utah Hockey Club (now Mammoth), who finished nine spots ahead of Boston, also got a higher pick. At least the Bruins also have two second-round picks this weekend.
Here is the list of players who Boston should draft in the first two rounds.
Round One, 7th Overall – Caleb Desnoyers (Forward), Moncton Wildcats
The Bruins have a need for a goal-scoring forward, and what better a way to add one than with the seventh-overall pick? With the talented prospects already in their system, including newly-signed winger Dans Locmelis, two-way defenseman Ty Gallagher, and now-third year forward Riley Duran. Also, wingers Fabian Lysell and Georgii Merkulov got their first NHL looks last season and should crack the roster out of training camp.
Dean Letourneau (Boston College) should also develop into a goal scorer, but needs more time with the Eagles to develop his scoring ability. Desnoyers, however, proved himself in the 2024-25 season to be a hot commodity and one who should be taken early in the first round. In the last two seasons with the Moncton Wildcats, Desnoyers has played in a combined 116-regular season games, scoring a combined 55 goals and tacking on 85 assists for 135 points.
Desnoyers, who has been compared to Patrice Bergeron, should give Bruins fans something to look forward to if they draft him, and provide a silver lining to what was a trying 2024-25 season. Desnoyers would bring some much needed offense to the team, and could be a great complement to right winger David Pastrnak.
Round Two, 51st Overall – Carter Amico (Defenseman), USNTDP
Following 2025 Trade Deadline deal that saw the Bruins trade Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs, they will likely be looking for a second-pairing defenseman through the draft. It’s no secret to hockey fans that there is a drop off from their top defensive pair of Mason Lohrei and Charlie McAvoy.
Sure, Gallagher could fill that role, but he can’t be the only one. Carter Amico may not be the goal scorers that McAvoy and Gallagher are, but he has a strong defensive game and can circulate the puck around the offensive zone or even shoot the puck with such precision that it tips off an offensive player’s stick for a goal.
Amico, a Westbrook, Maine native, is committed to Boston University and will join the Terriers for the 2026-27 season when it will be easier for the Bruins’ brass to keep tabs on him. If he is drafted this early, chances are he may not be at BU for long and will sign an entry-level contract after a short period with the Terriers.
Round Two, Pick 61 – Jack Galanek (Center), Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL)
With their other second-round pick, look for Boston to select another New England native, Jack Galanek. Galanek is from Hopkinton, Massachusetts and is slated to play for the University of Massachusetts. In parts of two seasons (plus two games), Galanek scored 33 goals and added 73 points in 119 games with the Muskegon Lumberjacks of the United States Hockey League (USHL).
While the numbers definitely jump off the page and Galanek is definitely going to be a goal-scorer from the start, what also is important is his leadership qualities, something lacking now that the Bruins do not have a set captain going into the next season. That’s not to say Galanek will be the team captain in year one, but in his second full season with the Lumberjacks, he was named an alternate captain, which Boston will look at as a harbinger of things to come.
While Galanek is going into Hockey East play with more potential than the aforementioned Letourneau given his time in the USHL, there may be a chance Galanek stays about the same amount of time in college hockey so he can develop more of a well-rounded skill set by the time he signs. While development may be the name of the game in Amherst, Galanek will be 20 years old when he enters his sophomore season for the Minutemen, and if he goes in the second round, there is a chance he may not last the entire second season in Amherst.
Could Bruins Trade Their First Pick?
While there is a chance that the Bruins trade their first-round pick, chances are slim. Part of that is due to the fact that they are operating under a first-year head coach in Marco Sturm, who will want to coach a team that he had a hand in picking, but when looking at the seventh-overall pick from the outside in, it is also that there is a lot of unknown with it: it’s not a high pick, but it’s not a low pick either.
If Boston were to trade it, it would have to be for the right price and/or for the right player(s). The Bruins will likely decide based on who gets taken with the first few picks, who is likely to be available at their slot, and if they deem there’s someone available who fills a need.
The draft will take place on June 27 and 28 from the Peacock Theater in Los Angeles.
