Bruins get worst-case outcome, lose out on top-10 pick from Leafs

Girl luck wasn’t on the Bruins’ facet on Tuesday night time.

The Boston Bruins missed out on a first-rate probability to safe a top-10 decide within the 2026 NHL Draft, because the Toronto Maple Leafs retained their very own 2026 first-round choice after profitable the primary total decide through the NHL Draft Lottery.

Had the outcomes of Tuesday’s lottery pushed Toronto out of the highest 5, the decide would have conveyed to the Bruins, giving a playoff membership in Boston an opportunity so as to add one other reliable blue-chip prospect to its already burgeoning pipeline.

Because of Toronto retaining its personal 2026 first-round decide, the Bruins will possible safe an unprotected 2028 first-round decide from Toronto — barring some added issues if Toronto’s 2027 first-round decide can also be a top-10 choice.

A 2028 unprotected first-round decide might internet Boston one other reliable prospect just a few years down the highway.

Nonetheless, Toronto profitable the draft lottery — and sure incomes the prospect to draft Gavin McKenna — is the worst-case situation for Boston.

Not solely does an Atlantic Division rival in Toronto get a reliable offensive risk to pair with Auston Matthews transferring ahead, however a Maple Leafs crew that was as soon as watching a long-term rebuild might not essentially be a lottery crew in 2028 by the point Boston has an unprotected first-round decide.

And even when Toronto does falter within the coming years, a first-rate 2028 first-round decide wouldn’t precisely match the present timeline of Boston’s present core if the Bruins are intent on benefiting from David Pastrnak’s prime years as he enters his age-30 season in 2026-27.

Boston entered Tuesday’s draft with a 58.1 % probability of securing Toronto’s decide, with the Leafs holding a 41.9 % probability of maintaining that decide within the prime 5.

This was Toronto’s draft lottery odds getting into Tuesday, per Tankathon.

• No. 1 decide: 8.5 % (Toronto retains)
• No. 2: 8.6 % (Toronto retains)
• No. 3: 0.3 % (Toronto retains)
• No. 4: N/A
• No. 5: 24.5 % (Toronto retains)
• No. 6: 44 % (transfers to Boston)
• No. 7: 14.2 % (transfers to Boston)

In the end, the Maple Leafs jumped forward of the remainder of the sphere, with Penn State star ahead McKenna the possible goal for Toronto.

Regardless of some brutal luck on Tuesday, the Bruins nonetheless made out nicely within the preliminary deal that put a possible 2026 first-round decide inside their grasp.

The Maple Leafs initially traded a conditional 2026 first-round decide (top-five protected), Fraser Minten, and a 2025 fourth-round decide to Boston in March 2025 in alternate for Brandon Carlo.

Boston seemingly already received the commerce given the potential showcased by the 21-year-old Minten in his first full season within the NHL, with Minten scoring 17 targets and averaging 15:33 of ice time over 82 video games with Boston.​

On the time, that Toronto 2026 first-round decide appeared destined to land someplace within the ‘20s — contemplating that the Maple Leafs have been seemingly mounted in a win-now window.

However the 2025-26 season was a downright catastrophe for the Maple Leafs, with accidents, regression, and the departure of Mitch Marner main to an entire implosion.

Toronto finally closed out the season with a file of 32-36-14 — incomes the fifth-best odds at securing the No. 1 decide within the 2026 NHL Draft.

Had the Maple Leafs’ decide dropped to No. 6 or No. 7 total, it will have gone to the Bruins, giving an already retooling roster a first-rate probability so as to add to a younger crop of prospects headlined by James Hagens, Minten, Dean Letourneau, Marat Khusnutdinov, Will Zellers, and others.

As a substitute, the Bruins might want to wait a bit longer to see when Toronto’s decide will switch over to them.

Toronto already traded its 2027 first-round decide to the Flyers final season in alternate for ahead Scott Laughton, though there are situations on that decide if it’s one other top-10 choice.

According to terms of the initial Bruins-Leafs trade, that 2027 decide to Philadelphia is top-10 protected.

So if Toronto retained its decide in 2026 and had a top-10 decide in 2027, the Maple Leafs would have the choice to award the ’27 first-round decide to both the Bruins or Flyers — with the opposite crew getting an unprotected 2028 first-round decide in consequence.

Given Toronto’s hesitancy to assist out its longtime Unique Six foe, it’d seemingly be a provided that the Leafs would select handy Boston an unprotected 2028 first-round decide as an alternative of giving them a top-10 choice in 2027.

If Boston desires to go for a longer-term rebuild, an unprotected 2028 first-round decide from Toronto might yield a powerful return in the event that they proceed to battle. But when Boston is attempting to money in now to assist out this present core, the Bruins might flip these future first-round picks to be able to add extra instant assist.

Boston nonetheless holds its personal 2026 first-round decide, one second-round decide, one third-round decide, three fourth-round picks and one seventh-round decide on this upcoming draft.

 

Conor Ryan is a employees author protecting the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Pink Sox for Boston.com, a task he has held since 2023.