Dazzle Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 (edited) It's been more than 10 years after their Stanley Cup win. An argument has been made that winning teams give up prospects to be competitive. Boston is no doubt competitive, but their scouting/draft/developing has taken quite a nosedive, especially (but not exclusively) due to Benning leaving. For the purposes of our short examination, we will ignore 2021, 2020, and 2019 for now. Few teams right now have players that are in the NHL for these years. The fact that we could have Hoglander in our spot in 2019 was FANTASTIC and an anomaly. But as you look down this page for Boston's picks, you'll start to see a theme - picks that aren't panning out in hindsight. IMO, I think Boston's not going to have enough quality prospects that will replace their main roster. In other words, we should see them on the decline sooner rather than later. I could totally be wrong, but good teams generally build their team through drafting. One cannot say that Boston has been doing a good job in recent years. 2017 was absolutely horrific for Boston. 2015 could also be a notable mention (as most of us already realize) that they had THREE CONSECUTIVE FIRST ROUND PICKS. They also largely missed with their THREE second round picks, aside from Brandon Carlo. But if Brandon Carlo is your best player from that draft, aside from DeBrusk - I think one can safely say that draft is a big L. Now going back to their more recent picks, I think the players, given their positions in the draft, are GENERALLY going to be misses, but maybe they'll surprise. Given their track record, I think they, as a team, are very much trending downward. Edited August 12, 2021 by Dazzle 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Sestito Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 The drafting under Benning from 2007-2013 was equally as bad as Boston's drafting was after he left. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
King Heffy Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Lysell was a steal. Studnicka should be a decent third liner. Other then that, it's rough. Seems they immediately started to struggle in the draft after Benning left. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tom Sestito Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Just now, King Heffy said: Lysell was a steal. Studnicka should be a decent third liner. Other then that, it's rough. Seems they immediately started to struggle in the draft after Benning left. Check again. Boston has been terrible drafting for the last 15 years - Benning or no Benning. 1 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theo5789 Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 8 minutes ago, Dazzle said: 2017 was absolutely horrific for Boston. 2015 could also be a notable mention (as most of us already realize) that they had THREE CONSECUTIVE FIRST ROUND PICKS. They also largely missed with their THREE second round picks, aside from Brandon Carlo. But if Brandon Carlo is your best player from that draft, aside from DeBrusk - I think one can safely say that draft is a big L. To be fair, Jeremy Swayman is 2017 is looking like he will be their starter in the near future. Has looked quite good in every level he's been in so far. Studnicka is establishing himself. Lauzon, taken in 2015, was just starting to get his game going for Boston and got the attention to be taken in the expansion. Vladar, also taken in 2015, had some decent numbers in the AHL and could make a serviceable reliable NHL back-up. Of course 2015 will always be viewed for those consecutive 1st round picks, but it wasn't all terrible. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV. Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Boston being a good drafting team has always been a myth, IMO. They had a strong 2006 year but that was during the transition from Mike O'Connell to Peter Chiarelli. Believe Jeff Gorton was the interim at that time but I have no idea what his role in scouting or selecting picks may have been. I do know he flipped Raycroft for Rask. Honestly, besides 2006, they got pretty fortunate to get 2 lotto picks from the Kessel deal in 2009, and hit gold once again with Pastrnak in 2014. Even then, I really doubt they thought they were getting franchise-tier talents in guys like Marchand (2006) and Pastrnak (2014) but luckily for them, those players panned out in a massive way. Getting a lot of mileage out of Krejci (2004) and Bergeron (2003) has also been key. 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 5 minutes ago, Tom Sestito said: The drafting under Benning from 2007-2013 was equally as bad as Boston's drafting was after he left. We have no idea how much influence Benning actually had. What we can see is that their GMs don't make the right calls for players over a long stretch of time. That's more than a big enough sample to put the onus on the GMs, since they make the final call. https://dailyhive.com/vancouver/jim-benning-next-gm-canucks-boston-model Since retiring from the game, he has certainly paid his dues. The unheralded Benning was a scout for Anaheim (1993-94) and in Buffalo (1994-98) before becoming the director of amateur scouting for the Sabres (1998-2004). In 2006 he became the director of player personnel for the Bruins and was subsequently promoted to assistant general manager after one season. The Bruins have been a model franchise (BOSTON MODEL!) since Jim Benning’s arrival in Beantown. The Bruins Stanley Cup winning team was a mixture of good draft picks and astute trades. They acquired Nathan Horton and Gregory Campbell for Dennis Wideman and a couple of draft picks. They picked-up Mark Recchi for a couple of spare parts. Chris Kelly was acquired for a 2nd round pick. And they acquired Dennis Seidenberg for relatively nothing as well. Question Marks The biggest question mark with Jim Benning is how much to we ought to credit him for his previous work in a supporting role. He was involved in decisions in Buffalo and Boston, but ultimately the decisions are made by the general manager. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AV. Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 If the point of this thread was to pump Benning's tires, it's much better to look at what he did whilst in Buffalo. He absolutely killed it there as part of their scouting team. Miller, Roy, Pominville, Campbell, just to name a few off the top of my head. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 1 minute ago, AV. said: If the point of this thread was to pump Benning's tires, it's much better to look at what he did whilst in Buffalo. He absolutely killed it there as part of their scouting team. Miller, Roy, Pominville, Campbell, just to name a few off the top of my head. It wasn't meant to be a Benning appreciation thread. Maybe I shouldn't even have mentioned the name Benning at all. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 10 minutes ago, AV. said: Boston being a good drafting team has always been a myth, IMO. They had a strong 2006 year but that was during the transition from Mike O'Connell to Peter Chiarelli. Believe Jeff Gorton was the interim at that time but I have no idea what his role in scouting or selecting picks may have been. I do know he flipped Raycroft for Rask. Honestly, besides 2006, they got pretty fortunate to get 2 lotto picks from the Kessel deal in 2009, and hit gold once again with Pastrnak in 2014. Even then, I really doubt they thought they were getting franchise-tier talents in guys like Marchand (2006) and Pastrnak (2014) but luckily for them, those players panned out in a massive way. Getting a lot of mileage out of Krejci (2004) and Bergeron (2003) has also been key. 19 minutes ago, Tom Sestito said: The drafting under Benning from 2007-2013 was equally as bad as Boston's drafting was after he left. Yup. Boston's drafting just hasn't been great, especially from 2006 - 2015 (Peter Chiarelli). They've been lucky more than anything. Don Sweeney had an awful 2015 draft, yes, it's awful. That's 2/6 picks missed in the first and second round. @theo5789 But maybe they'll have some players stepping in, as you said, like Swayman. Lauzon was the other player I noticed as well because he got stolen by the Krakens. Ouch that draft. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Good, &^@# Boston, let them suffer. 1 1 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drakrami Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 Hamilton, Pastrnak, McAvoy... probably top 3 players put on any NHL team... taken a nose dive... ehhh.. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 32 minutes ago, Drakrami said: Hamilton, Pastrnak, McAvoy... probably top 3 players put on any NHL team... taken a nose dive... ehhh.. Past 2015, they're pretty bad, was the point of the thread. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhukini Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 They hit a grand slam in 2014 and have reaped the benefits since. Too bad we weren't picking anywhere close or we could have had a chance at pasta too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zhukini Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 The real travesty is the directions the two teams since 2011 have taken since the final. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 Just now, Zhukini said: They hit a grand slam in 2014 and have reaped the benefits since. Too bad we weren't picking anywhere close or we could have had a chance at pasta too. A lot of teams missed Pastrnak. Then again if you look at Boston's 2015 draft, they had THREE freaking chances to pick one of Barzal, Boeser, Connor, or Konency, and they missed on them, plus the next three picks. Brandon Carlo was a hit, but he's the only 2nd round pick that hit. They flubbed that draft. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dazzle Posted August 12, 2021 Author Share Posted August 12, 2021 1 minute ago, Zhukini said: The real travesty is the directions the two teams since 2011 have taken since the final. You should see how poorly the Canucks were drafting, especially before and after 2011. That's on Gillis. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 1 hour ago, Coconuts said: Good, &^@# Boston, let them suffer. Indeed. How ever one slices it..an epic topic! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 46 minutes ago, Zhukini said: They hit a grand slam in 2014 and have reaped the benefits since. Too bad we weren't picking anywhere close or we could have had a chance at pasta too. & then they could PAYYY the man with a hollow, minimal AAV & Dunkin Donut endorsements out the ying yang! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
higgyfan Posted August 12, 2021 Share Posted August 12, 2021 2 hours ago, Tom Sestito said: Check again. Boston has been terrible drafting for the last 15 years - Benning or no Benning. Not very high in the picking order = higher risks with the later picks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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