NHL Prospect Pool Overview '26-27: Boston Bruins Pipeline Headlined By Hagens and Friends
The Boston Bruins took a quick stop near the bottom of the league to add some solid pieces to their prospect pool.
The Bruins are a bit of a mushy-middle team at the moment, but they always seem to find their way to being one of the NHL's better teams. They have a few pieces in the pipeline that could help if they hit.
With the NHL off-season in full swing, we have the perfect opportunity to look at each team's prospect pool, going in alphabetical order, which means it's Boston's turn.
In our annual Prospect Pool Deep Dive series, Tony Ferrari will dig into each team's top prospects, the strengths and weaknesses of the pipeline, a quick overview of their latest draft class, where each team's positional depth chart stands, and who could be next in line for an NHL chance!
2026 NHL Draft Class
Round 2, 56th overall - Yuri Ivanov, G, Spartak Moscow Jr. (Rus.)
Round 3, 88th overall - Nils Bartholdsson, RW, Rogle (Swe.)
Round 4, 104th overall - Matvei Kotkov, RW, Yaroslavl Jr. (Rus.)
Round 4, 122nd overall - Oscar Olsson, LW, Orebro Jr. (Swe.)
Round 5, 157th overall - Jacob Vandeven, D, Komoka (GOJHL)
Round 6, 170th overall - Roberto Leonardo Henriquez, G, Green Bay (USHL)
Round 7, 216th overall - Cullen McCrate, D, Fargo (USHL)
The Bruins had quite an interesting draft class. They started things off in the second round by drafting Russian netminder Yuri Ivanov. He was a netminder who wasn't regarded this highly, but Ivanov was one of the youngest netminders in the draft and had an excellent second half of the year. The 6-foot-2 netminder was even better in the playoffs. He's athletic, and he's shown the ability to be a force in net when he is dialled in.
Nils Bartholdsson was their pick in the third round, adding a player with some really high-end offensive tools. He's a good shooter with some slick passing ability. He may not be the most fleet of foot, but he understands how to get things going once the puck is in the offensive zone. Bartholdsson is the highest upside player that the Bruins drafted, and he could be a really solid complementary winger at the NHL level.
The Bruins went back to Russia in round four, taking winger Matvei Kotkov. He had a very good MHL playoffs as the MVP of the post-season, using his goal scoring to help his team to a Kharlamov Cup championship. A constant scoring threat in the offensive zone, Kotkov has a very strong shot, and he will fire it from all over the zone. He's a good skater and a willing physical presence, but he's going to need to round out his game and diversify his offensive game to reach the NHL someday.
With their second fourth-round pick, the Bruins drafted Swedish power forward Oscar Olsson. He's an interesting player because while he is a good goal scorer from around the net and he does a good job of playing in space, especially on the power play, there is a finesse element to his game that has flashed from time to time and remains enticing. Olsson is a long-term development project, and he will have to get a bit faster and more agile to reach his full potential.
Boston selected one of the few junior A players taken in this year's draft, Jacob Vandeven. The 6-foot-5 defender is physically undeveloped, and that showed up when he played in some games for the London Knights this past year. He has the right idea in his own zone, he's just beaten to pucks, or he loses battles because of his lack of strength. Vandeven is a long-term project with a frame that they hope fills out.
Possibly my favorite pick of the Bruins draft came in the sixth round, where they selected Roberto Leonardo Henriquez, a Dominican-Slovakian netminder who was playing in the USHL. The overage netminder was highly athletic and showed some really intriguing tools as a netminder. The biggest strength in his game is his skating, though. He moves so well on his feet that he's able to give himself the chance to make just about any save needed. He could be as good as the netminder they took in round two.
Finishing off the draft with another overager, defenseman Cullen McCrate. Heading off to Michigan State in the NCAA next year, the 19-year-old blueliner is the kind of player who simply tries to ensure that bad things don't happen. He's not a dynamic presence or the kind of defender that is going to make glaring mistakes. McCrate likes to keep things simple and easy. He's a swing on a safe floor.
Strengths
The Bruins truly do not have a position where they are strong.
They have a couple of center prospects in Hagens and Locmelis that are solid.
You could argue either wing with Letourneau and Bartholdsson on the right and Simpson, Zellers and Cole Spicer on the left.
The reality is that many of those players, despite being top prospects in the Bruins system, are long shots or swings on skill that Boston hopes will work out.
Weaknesses
The Bruins have one single right-handed defense prospect in recent seventh-round pick, overager Cullen McCrate. With Max Wanner not receiving a qualifying offer, the Bruins have no one in their pipeline at the position with NHL projection, unless you really stretch McCrate's projection.
It's safe to say that while they have weaknesses all over their prospect pool with no real area of strength, the fact that they have a single long shot right shot defensemen is an issue.
Hidden Gem: Will Moore, C
Although he didn't blow the doors off at Boston College as a freshman, Will Moore had quite a steady season.
He had just 10 points in 33 games, but he played a really solid two-way game and brought plenty of effort throughout the year. His game has always been built around being able to tactically pick apart the opposition, simply making smart plays.
When he is at his best, he's a very smart north-south center who can bring two-way effort. He could be a really solid depth center for the Bruins in a year or two.
Next Man Up: James Hagens, C
The Bruins are going to be in need of a true difference-maker from their younger players, and the player with the best chance of doing that is Hagens.
The former Boston College forward has been one of the most exciting prospects in hockey over the last couple of years, playing with the fluidity and creativity that thrive in the modern game.
His playmaking is as good as that of almost any prospect in hockey. If he can find his groove as a center, he could be the 1C that Boston has sorely lacked since Patrice Bergeron retired.
Prospect Depth Chart Notables
LW: Cooper Simpson, Will Zellers, Oscar Olsson, Cole Spicer, Brett Harrison, Christopher Pelosi
C: James Hagens, Dans Locmelis, Will Moore, Cole Chandler, Kirill Yemelyanov
RW: Dean Letourneau, Nils Bartholdsson, Matvei Kotkov, Ryan Walsh
LD: Frederic Brunet, Loke Johansson, Kristian Kostadinski, Jacob Vandeven, Elliott Groenewold
RD: Cullen McCrate
G: Philip Svedeback, Yuri Ivanov, Roberto Leonardo Henriquez
For a deeper dive into the prospect pool with player rankings, check out the Yearbook and Future Watch editions of the Hockey News print edition!
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This story was originally published July 4, 2026 at 12:40 PM.