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ZHL GENERAL MANAGER: |
Ed Baker |
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The NHL draft had a decidedly European flavor for the Bruins, who took three Swedes, three Czechs, two Finns and a Russian among their 12 picks. "It wasn't intentional, it just turned out that way," assistant GM Mike O'Connell said. "Based on what our scouts had seen over the year, it was just one of those years where we had highly skilled Europeans ranked above North Americans." Boston used both of its first-round selections on Swedes, taking D Lars Jonsson at No. 7 and winger Martin Samuelsson at No. 27. The Bruins selected Samuelsson with the 27th pick after exercising the option they obtained from Colorado in the Ray Bourque trade. Head scout Scott Bradley was thrilled with the draft, which stocked Boston with five defensemen and seven forwards. "Things just fell right for us in kind of a domino effect," he said. "We had our lists prepared with three or four players at each of our draft positions that we would have been satisfied with. Particularly on that first day, each time it came to our selection, there was a player available that we had rated in a much higher position than the actual pick." ... The Bruins lost RW Steve Heinze and D Mattias Timander in the expansion draft, with both going to the Columbus Blue Jackets. "This is about what we were expecting," GM Harry Sinden said. "We had been hoping not to lose a defenseman, but we thought that either Timander or Brandon Smith would go. We did make a deal with the teams involving a draft pick to select Heinze rather than another forward." |
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Boston Bruins