Here is the list of signed (NHL contract) or drafted (unsigned) Bruins prospects (all players must be under age 25 to be considered for this list). Their 2019-20 teams are listed below.
We will post new prospect profiles of the 2020 NHL draft selections and a new prospect ranking after the event.
Players signed to AHL contracts are not included in this list.
The Bruins prospects series is nearing its end- since late March, we’ve done updates on the players in Boston’s system in several different formats. Here’s the latest with a 2016 fifth-round draft choice from Finland.- KL
Joona Koppanen then:
March 15, 2017
Koppanen is not ahead of the developmental curve- he didn’t put up the big numbers (23 goals, 54 points in 38 games) by playing for the Ilves Tampere (Tuukka Rask’s old club) senior team- he was playing against a lower level of competition. 18-year-olds with high-end NHL potential tend to make those top pro teams at a younger age. So, while not raining on Koppanen’s parade- he deserves for credit for more than doubling his production in the same league from a season ago, it’s an apples and oranges comparison if you’re looking to make the ubiquitous upside argument- he’s a fifth-round pick who won a gold medal in last April’s U18 world tourney as a clampdown/defensive center (no points in 7 games), but with his 6-5 size and hockey sense, could one day work his way into the NHL mix. Just don’t expect him to do it as a top-6 option…at least, that’s not how he projects today, and that’s even with the impressive point totals in the U-20 circuit. Follow the Finns on Twitter and check out the Koppanen piece- it’s a solid review of a player who is lost in the sauce a bit among the many prospects in the Boston organization at present.
May 16, 2017
Joona Koppanen, C, Ilves Tampere (Finland)- The Bruins signed the first of two fifth-round picks from the 2016 draft after the season ended. There had been talk that the gi-normous 6-foot-5 Finnish forward would come to the U.S. to play NCAA hockey, but in the end- he opted to play pro hockey for Ilves and the B’s made the commitment (it won’t count against the 50-contract limit unless he’s playing in the AHL).
He’s coming off a productive season with the Ilves junior (Under-20) squad and while he doesn’t have the high-end talent to project as much of a scorer at the AHL and NHL levels, you can’t teach his size and reach, and he’s pretty fluid for such a big man. There’s a shot for him to one day compete for a spot on Boston’s fourth line and perhaps work his way up from there.
He’s more of a defensive, clampdown kind of guy who isn’t a hitting machine, but uses his size effectively in the faceoff dot and in the corners/along the walls. The production this season was encouraging, but it did not come against top-level competition- we’ll know more about Koppanen’s offensive potential after a year in the SM-Liiga, which is a talent level much closer to the AHL than what he was going up against this year.
Joona Koppanen now:
Koppanen signed with the B’s in 2017 and played one year in Finland’s top pro league before committing to come over at age 20. After a tough rookie season in North America in 2018-19 (2 goals in 45 AHL games with Providence, 1 assist in 7 ECHL with Atlanta), Koppanen rebounded with a solid second year- 9 goals, 18 points in 43 AHL games.
Always more of a defensive center project player who has great size, and is a good skater for having such a big frame, Koppanen was a fifth-round pick not known for much in the way of skill/offensive potential at the higher levels. A smart, instinctive player, he bounced back this past season after struggling to make the adjustment from Finland the year before. He’s strong on faceoffs and uses his long reach effectively in his own end.
Outlook:
Not on the tip of most peoples’ tongues when it comes to discussing prospects in the Bruins organization, Koppanen is a stylistic fit given his size, strength, skating and smarts. There isn’t much to get excited about in terms of skills and production, but he showed more of a propensity this past season to getting pucks on net and playing a more assertive game in all three zones.
A reliable two-way center who uses his big frame and savvy to win faceoffs and provide solid depth and contributions at the AHL level, he looks like more of a journeyman/role player type at the NHL level if he gets there. He’s won an IIHF championship at the under-18 level in 2016, and plays a heavy game even if there isn’t much flash to it.
All in all, he’s a long shot to ever make much of an impact in a Boston uniform, but we could see some spot duty from him going forward.
(Ryan Donato, Boston’s 2nd-round selection in 2014 NHL Entry Draft )
We’re going to close out the forwards portion of our “What’s Next” for the Boston Bruins series with this entry on the prospects we didn’t cover in the two previous posts on the subject. These are players who are either unsigned (NCAA) or out of Europe. Some are closer to making a possible impact (Anders Bjork) than others (Ryan Donato), but this more proof that the B’s have a lot of options within their organization, and that doesn’t include the next talent boost, with the 2017 NHL Entry Draft about five weeks away.
So, in the spirit of the previous post- here’s a list of the players we think are going to not only challenge for NHL jobs sooner than later, but will also make an impact:
Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson aka “JFK” earned his second consecutive Hockey East player of the week honor after his BU Terriers defeated reigning HEA champs- the Northeastern Huskies- over the weekend. He shared the honor with BC’s Austin Cangelosi, scoring the opening goal in the clinching 3-2 win Sunday, while assisting on the other two, culminating in a Chad Krys-winning strike with about 25 seconds left in regulation.
Breaking news alert- We’re hearing via a reliable NHL source that JFK turning pro after the NCAA season wraps is close- (EDIT- we’re going to take a step back and soften the language since the source is not JFK- we were wrong to write the post with such definitive language and for that we apologize to JFK and- K.L.) The BU sophomore is leaning towards signing with Boston at the conclusion of his final sophomore year contest. While he’s not a dynamic player who will grab you, JFK’s game is all about the details- he does everything well and coaches love having him because of the high trust factor. That’s not to say that he grabs you with blistering speed or pace on every shift, but for those who are students of the game, JFK needs no explaining- he just gets it. And, you win with players like him in your lineup at any level. We’re not sure if he’ll play in Boston right away or sign an ATO to finish the year in Providence, but we do feel strongly that JFK’s Boston debut is not that far off, regardless of how things play out in the immediate timeline.
B’s prospects had quite the weekend in the goal scoring department as the calendar entered our final month of 2016.
Friday night was for hat tricks as Zach Senyshyn (4 goals), Jesse Gabrielle (3 goals) and Joona Koppanen (3 goals) all brought the head covers raining down.
Harvard’s Ryan Donato also had multiple goals, while another Ryan- Minnesota freshman defenseman Ryan Lindgren, tallied his first career NCAA goal, finishing off a 2-on-1 with Rem Pitlick in a loss to Ohio State Saturday night.
Additionally, Anders Bjork and Danton Heinen had a two-goal games for Notre Dame and the Providence Bruins (respectively) Friday night, and Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson added a goal in BU’s win over Providence College that same evening.
Senyshyn’s Texas hat trick (if “everything” is bigger in the Lone Star State and 4 > 3, ergo- a four-goal game is Texas-sized) came against the Barrie Colts one year to the day that he performed the same feat- December 2, 2015 against the Sudbury Wolves. In this one, Senyshyn accounted for all of the Soo Greyhounds’ goals, tallying in overtime on a nice spin-around to protect the puck, shake the defender and drive right to the net for his 13th marker of the season in 22 games. He’s ba-a-a-a-ck!
***
Going on a bit of a rant, here- so bear with us.
It can be grating that whenever we post a positive update on either one of Anders Bjork or Jesse Gabrielle on Twitter, people seem to constantly respond with concerns about their signing status. Here’s the TSP take: we fail to see what the big que pasa is right now. Yes, we’re going to use that analogy again- FAST FOOD mentality- to describe fans who can’t ever seem to be happy with what is going on and want to overly dissect and analyze everything down to the gnat’s ass, including wanting every contract move and decision resolved in the immediate. Look, we get it- if we weren’t stressing over what the Bruins might or might not do with their sizable stable of futures on Twitter or elsewhere, whatever would we do with ourselves? At some point, you just have to enjoy what is happening and let the pieces fall when the time comes.
Bjork is well on his way to his best season in college? No, we’re afraid he’s going to “pull a Vesey” even though he’s still some 20 months away from August 15, 2018- the absolute earliest date that he could walk away from the Bruins and become a free agent. Gabrielle on another 40+ goal pace for the second consecutive season in the WHL? Dammit, Bruins- why haven’t you signed him already??? Never mind the fact that the B’s drafted six major junior players in 2015 and have successfully signed the first five…Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, Zach Senyshyn,Brandon Carlo and Jeremy Lauzon. Gabrielle is next, and they have until June 1 to make him a “bona fide” offer to retain his rights. It’s going to get done, folks- he grew up cheering for the Bruins and they’re the team that put their faith in him when everyone else passed until the mid fourth round. If it doesn’t happen and the B’s lose one or the other somehow, then we’ll be totally wrong and you can remind us of this post all you want. It wouldn’t be the first time.
Look- there’s no guarantee that the Bruins will sign both of Bjork and Gabrielle, but there are no indications that it won’t happen either. They’ve got 27 goals between them with room for a lot more, so for now, our advice is to enjoy the fireworks and don’t sweat the small stuff. Rookie salary caps and the like have put an end to the days when Hall of Fame-caliber junior players like Kyle Wanvig could just refuse a team’s offer and fax machine jams could result in them going back into the draft. Yes, the CBA allows for players like Jimmy Vesey and Matt Benning to name a few to become free agents and sign elsewhere, but those experiences are making teams like Boston wise to playing the longer game so that they don’t lose the assets. Again- there is no reason to assume that Bjork is in the same place Vesey was in terms of how he approaches his pro hockey future, so until he actually turns down an offer from the B’s, we should just let it play out for now. There is such a thing as paralysis by analysis, after all.
Or, to coin a popular phrase from the 1980’s, “Frankie says…relax.”
Amateur Prospects as of 12/05/16
Name/Team
League
GP
G
A
PTS
PIM
Jesse Gabrielle, Prince George
WHL
23
16
11
27
32
Anders Bjork, Notre Dame
HE-NCAA
16
11
15
26
8
Zach Senyshyn, SSM
OHL
22
13
8
21
15
Jakub Zboril, Saint John
QMJHL
17
6
10
16
10
Ryan Fitzgerald, BC
HE-NCAA
16
5
11
16
22
Ryan Donato, Harvard
ECAC- NCAA
11
7
7
14
8
Jakob Forsbacka-Karlsson, BU
HE- NCAA
14
3
10
13
14
Cameron Hughes, Wisconsin
Big10- NCAA
14
2
10
12
6
Charlie McAvoy, BU
HE-NCAA
14
1
11
12
14
Jeremy Lauzon, Rouyn-Noranda
QMJHL
12
2
9
11
6
Trent Frederic, Wisconsin*
Big10- NCAA
8
4
6
10
8
Jack Becker, Sioux Falls**
USHL
17
2
3
5
28
Cameron Clarke, Ferris St.
WCHA- NCAA
16
0
4
4
16
Wiley Sherman, Harvard
ECAC-NCAA
11
0
4
4
8
Ryan Lindgren, Minnesota
Big10- NCAA
14
1
2
3
47
* Injured
Pro and European Prospects
Name/Team
League
GP
G
A
PTS
PIM
Joona Koppanen, Ilves Jr.
U20- Finland
20
12
17
29
2
Peter Cehlarik, Providence
AHL
16
8
5
13
6
Danton Heinen, Providence
AHL
12
7
5
12
0
Matt Grzelcyk, Providence
AHL
22
1
10
11
6
Anton Blidh, Providence#
AHL
19
5
4
9
22
Colby Cave, Providence
AHL
22
3
6
9
11
Jake DeBrusk, Providence
AHL
22
3
6
9
11
Colton Hargrove, Providence
AHL
19
3
5
8
22
Emil Johansson, Djurgarden IF
Sweden- Elite
18
3
4
7
6
Austin Czarnik, Providence#
AHL
2
1
2
3
0
Sean Kuraly, Providence
AHL
13
1
2
3
11
Rob O’Gara, Providence
AHL
17
0
2
2
2
Chris Casto, Providence
AHL
19
0
2
2
20
Oskar Steen, Farjestad
Sweden- Elite
19
1
1
2
2
Linus Arnesson, Providence
AHL
18
0
1
1
4
Brian Ferlin, Providence
AHL
1
0
0
0
0
Justin Hickman, Providence
AHL
7
0
0
0
7
Zane McIntyre, Providence
AHL
5
3
0
0.93
.965
Dan Vladar, Providence
AHL
6
3
0 (3)
2.84
.914
Malcolm Subban, Providence
AHL
11
1
6 (5)
3.12
.897
# Czarnik, Blidh recalled to Boston
Tyler Randell, Tommy Cross, Alex Grant > age 25- not listed
scoutingpost 