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New NHL mock draft has Bruins taking ‘game-breaker’ center with injury risks
The Bruins should still be able to add a blue-chip center prospect with the No. 7 pick.
A new 2025 NHL mock draft has the Bruins addressing their most pressing need by selecting a center with the seventh overall pick.
But it’s a move that doesn’t come without some serious risks.
The Athletic’s Corey Pronman and Scott Wheeler released their latest mock draft earlier this week, with Pronman predicting that the Bruins will select center Roger McQueen from the WHL’s Brandon Wheat Kings.
“Boston rolls the dice on a player who could quickly reset their organization if he hits,” Pronman wrote. “McQueen is the rare game-breaker you can get at 7, and is here solely due to injury concerns. He addresses a critical need for them at center. In an ideal world, there isn’t a huge run on centers like there was in this mock.”
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As Pronman noted, the mock draft crafted by The Athletic didn’t exactly favor the Bruins, as five of the six teams in front of them in the draft order opted to take a center.
That means that other potential Bruins targets down the middle like Anton Frondell (No. 3, Chicago), Caleb Desnoyers (No. 4, Utah), James Hagens (No. 5, Nashville) and even Jake O’Brien (No. 6, Philadelphia) were all off the board by the time Boston landed on the clock.
On paper, there’s a lot to like about McQueen and his potential in the NHL ranks. The playmaking center is already an imposing presence at 6-foot-5 and 197 pounds — and he scored eight goals in his first 12 games with Brandon this past season.
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But McQueen’s season was severely derailed by a lingering back injury that cost him months of his season, with a setback during the playoffs raising further concerns about his health and just how long that ailment will plague him moving forward.
Even with those questions regarding McQueen’s health and skating ability, his potential as a big-bodied, skilled center with jam could make him a risk worth taking for a team in desperate need of upside like Boston.
“Players with his skill set are top-five picks all day long,” one NHL scout told Pronman of McQueen’s ceiling. Another scout was even more explicit about McQueen’s value, stating, “On pure talent, he’s a top-three pick. He does what Anton Frondell does while being four inches taller.”
But after the Bruins also opted for a project in 6-foot-7 center Dean Letourneau during the 2024 NHL Draft, Boston might want to go for a safer option with a top-10 pick next month — even if a center like Brady Martin has a lower upside.
If there is a run on centers in the 2025 NHL Draft, the Bruins could also opt for the best talent available — which could result in picking a skilled, top-six winger like Porter Martone (mocked No. 8 overall to Seattle) or Victor Eklund (mocked No. 10 overall to Anaheim).
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The Athletic’s mock draft also had a full second round charted out, with Pronman and Wheeler predicting that the Bruins will use their two second-round picks on right-shot D Max Psenicka (No. 51 overall) and physical center Ethan Czata (No. 55 overall).
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