Boston Bruins
“I believe there’s numerous weight off his shoulders. He is aware of the place his subsequent group can be.”
CHESTNUT HILL — The Bruins gained’t formally start regular-season play till subsequent week.
However followers eager to catch a glimpse on the subsequent wave of Bruins skaters had been capable of take inventory of Boston’s prospect pipeline over at Chestnut Hill on Friday night time.
There was no scarcity of Bruins prospects on the ice in Friday’s season opener between No. 6 Boston School and No. 13 Quinnipiac — with seven completely different skaters drafted by Boston taking to the ice at Conte Discussion board.
The Eagles rolled out 5 completely different Bruins prospects — headlined by 2025 first-round choose (No. 7 general) James Hagens.
Becoming a member of Hagens as Bruins property on BC’s roster had been fellow pivots Will Moore (2025 second-round choose) and Dean Letourneau (2024 first-round choose) — in addition to wingers Oskar Jellvik (2021 fifth-round choose) and Andre Gasseau (2021 seventh-round choose).
BC additionally has one other Bruins draft choose in 6-foot-6 defenseman Kristian Kostadinski (2023 seventh-round choose), however he didn’t gown for Friday’s recreation.
The Bobcats additionally had two Bruins skaters atop their depth chart in middle Chris Pelosi (2023 third-round choose) and defenseman Elliott Groenewold (2024 fourth-round choose).
“It was fairly cool seeing everybody on the market — understanding everybody on the market,” Pelosi mentioned of battling in opposition to a number of Bruins prospects. “However on the finish of the day — it’s our group versus their group, and we simply put our heads down and type of forgot who is aware of who.”
Loads of eyes had been on Hagens in his first collegiate hockey recreation as a Bruins prospect. But it surely was the Bobcats who dictated most of Friday’s recreation, leaving Chestnut Hill with a 4-3 win.
The Bobcats held a commanding 30-15 edge in pictures on aim, whereas six completely different Bruins prospects recorded a degree on the night time.
“We weren’t tight sufficient in opposition to a group that’s excellent at enjoying a group recreation, enjoying collectively,” BC head coach Greg Brown mentioned. “Quinnipiac, for years, has been a group that doesn’t beat themselves. They play collectively. They play nicely. They play easy hockey.
“You must be actually in your recreation to play in opposition to them, or they’ll be capable of exploit your errors. And so they had been capable of get a couple of tonight.”
Listed below are some observations from Friday’s Bruins-heavy bout:
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It was a strong, albeit unspectacular, exhibiting from Hagens in his season debut. The skating and edge work had been on show as anticipated, however the Bobcats made a concerted effort to remove time and house for the proficient pivot on Friday.
Hagens had a couple of slip-ups within the defensive zone when pressured, with the sophomore needing to proceed to work on withstanding the physicality that can solely ratchet up as he advances up the ranks of professional hockey.
Hagens did document one help on the person benefit within the second interval, feeding a puck from the excessive slot over to Ryan Conmy — who promptly snapped an providing previous Quinnipiac’s Dylan Silverstein to make it a 3-2 recreation on the time.
Hagens completed with out a shot on aim, with Brown noting that BC’s high line of Hagens, Teddy Stiga and Conmy had been “attempting to perform a little an excessive amount of”, particularly close to the beginning of the sport.
Even with a quiet exhibiting on Friday, Brown believes that Hagens ought to profit from having much less scrutiny placed on him this season with regard to his spot within the NHL Draft.
“I believe there’s numerous weight off his shoulders,” Brown mentioned. “He is aware of the place his subsequent group can be. He is aware of what group [he’ll play for]. That stuff was — most likely overly essential [with how] individuals had been as a result of that they had such a magnifying glass on him for the draft.
“Whenever you’re being talked about within the top-10 draft place, when you watch lengthy sufficient, you will discover errors with all people. So I felt like he went via numerous that. Now that’s all behind him, and he can actually simply give attention to hockey. We all know what he can do. He’s going to be an enormous a part of this group, drive the offense for us.”
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Andre Gasseau must be a participant to observe on this Eagles group coming into his senior season.
There’s loads to love about how Gasseau’s skillset might translate to the professional ranks as a big-bodied winger (6-foot-4, 224 kilos) with fairly good wheels. He makes use of that measurement to his benefit by frequently profitable puck battles down low and clearing house in Grade-A ice, with BC’s captain recording three assists on the night time.
It stays to be seen if that offensive ceiling will carry previous collegiate competitors, however Gasseau does numerous the little issues proper on the subject of profitable board battles, screening netminders, and contributing to a fruitful offensive-zone sequence.
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For the entire give attention to the Bruins prospects in Chestnut Hill this winter, Bruins followers must be holding tabs on the duo enjoying for Quinnipiac — as there’s loads to love about each Pelosi and Groenewold’s flooring as pro-hockey abilities.
Pelosi has seen his inventory soar over the past yr, recording 19 factors (11 targets, eight assists) over his ultimate 23 video games as a freshman final season with the Bobcats.
The 6-foot-2 middle has a nostril for the online and a excessive motor, as evidenced by his first aim of the season — the place he jammed away at a free puck within the crease to provide QU what ended up being the game-winning tally.
Pelosi also needs to ingratiate himself to Bruins followers as he continues to rise via the ranks, contemplating that he was routinely getting combined up in post-whistle scraps on Friday night time. If he continues to supply at a gentle clip in faculty, Pelosi might finally develop right into a Swiss Military Knife on a 3rd line within the professionals.
“It’s only a pure maturation course of for him,” Quinnipiac head coach Rand Pecknold mentioned of Pelosi’s growth. “He began out final yr, he was good firstly of the yr and he acquired higher and simply climbed because the season went on.
“And I believed he was nice in February and March for us. And went out to summer season, placed on 16 kilos of muscle, and he’s massive and robust now. And I believed he was one in every of our higher gamers tonight.”
Groenewold — a 6-foot-4, left-shot D — isn’t as flashy as among the different Bruins prospects within the group’s pipeline. However that no-frills, regular strategy can be why he’s simple to undertaking as a possible second or third-pairing blue liner on the subsequent stage if he continues to spherical out his recreation.
Incomes loads of matchups in opposition to the Hagens’ line, Groenewold made a number of shifts uncomfortable for BC’s high skaters on account of his measurement, attain, and durable body.
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All eyes can be on whether or not or not first-round choose Dean Letourneau can break via offensively after scoring zero targets over 36 video games final season as a freshman.
However because the 6-foot-7 middle continues to try to spherical out his general recreation, it was encouraging to see him throw his weight round extra in opposition to the Bobcats with a couple of heavy checks.
It was an analogous sight to what we noticed from Letourneau during Boston’s final scrimmage of development camp — when the intriguing middle was getting concerned and being assertive down low whereas profitable puck battles.
“Dean had an enormous summer season within the weight room,” Brown mentioned. “Acquired loads stronger and was capable of benefit from that generally. I believe we’ll see the offense come from him as nicely. But when he’s not creating probabilities, and he’s nonetheless being a bodily power, then he’s getting again within the recreation, so it’s nice for him so as to add that to his repertoire.”
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It seems just like the Eagles don’t plan on easing Will Moore into an elevated function this season, because the freshman anchored BC’s second line alongside a pair of different Bruins prospects in Gasseau and Jellvik. Moore recorded a secondary help on Drew Fortescue’s third-period tally, and had a number of promising puck touches in tight areas of the ice, particularly down low.
So much can be driving on Hagens’ growth this season, however a two-way middle like Moore additionally has appreciable upside on a group just like the Bruins that values his skillset down the center.
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