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Kalman: Bruins Might Not Have To Wait Long For McAvoy To Arrive

BOSTON (CBS) - It wasn't as much of a slam dunk as Peter Chiarelli picking Tyler Seguin No. 2 overall in 2010 after the Edmonton Oilers went with Taylor Hall at No. 1, but Bruins general manager Don Sweeney had a somewhat simple decision to make on Friday at the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo.

Based on the Bruins' desperation for defensemen both at the NHL level and in the prospect pipeline with Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidenberg's tenures approaching their end in the next few seasons, Sweeney probably wanted a defenseman all along. When the draft board got to the Bruins at No. 14, Sweeney had four highly regarded defensemen to choose from.

Sweeney went for Boston University incoming sophomore Charlie McAvoy.

Unlike last year, when the Bruins reached for Zach Senyshyn at 15th overall, Sweeney picked a player targeted to the slot by the experts. There were other high-end defensemen available in addition to McAvoy. Jakob Chychrun might've been the most polished of the bunch, and Jake Bean and Dante Fabbro might've brought their own amount of upside. But in the end Sweeney opted for the player the Bruins have seen the most and plays closest to TD Garden.

Charlie McAvoy
Charlie McAvoy celebrates with the Boston Bruins after being selected 14th overall during round one of the 2016 NHL Draft (Photo by Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)

The Bruins also might not have to wait very long for the 6-foot, 208-pound McAvoy to arrive. He was the youngest player in the NCAA last season and had 25 points for the Terriers.

"He has a real pro game to him," NHL Central Scouting's David Gregory told NHL.com recently. "He's a player who, because of his late birthdate (Dec. 21. 1997), has played with players already drafted at a very high level for a long time, but has shown the kind of game that really translates well to the pro game."

Jeff Marek of Sportsnet calls McAvoy a tireless skater and a puck-moving defenseman who can quarterback a power play. Others in the know echo those sentiments about McAvoy as an offensive defenseman who needs to improve in the defensive zone. Well in the NHL, in the second half of this decade, that's exactly what any team, especially the Bruins, needs to succeed. You can teach a teenaged defenseman to play defense. Between hard work and the right system and the right coaching, almost anyone can add to that part of his game. But the skating and the offensive flair are harder to teach and the more natural ability that's present, the better.

With the Bruins' second pick in the first round, however, Sweeney couldn't help but go off the board. The Bruins selected center Trent Frederic, who was ranked 47th by CSS. The NBCSN broadcasters all screamed he's a future third-liner and most of the scouting reports laud Frederic's work ethic and reliability more than his skills, but at 18 years old it's always tough to get a 100-percent read on a kid's potential. Senyshyn has bolted to the upper echelons of the Bruins' prospect pool since his pick was mocked last year and maybe Frederic will prove people wrong as well. If you want to agonize over that 29th pick being the compensation Boston got from San Jose for Martin Jones, who came over for Milan Lucic, you might get a little sick. Nonetheless, one first-round pick, which the Bruins had hoped would be higher in the pecking order before San Jose went on its somewhat improbable run, isn't going to make or break the future of the Bruins.

On a relatively quiet draft day, the biggest winner might've been the Detroit Red Wings, who dumped Pavel Datsyuk's $7.5 million cap hit on Phoenix all for the price of moving down four slots in the first round. With that cap space added to what they already had the Red Wings can pursue uber-unrestricted free agent Steven Stamkos and/or make life difficult on the Bruins in their pursuit of a trade or signing of a top-two defenseman. An Atlantic Division that already featured the Tampa Bay Lightning and Florida Panthers is only going to get tougher with Detroit in a position to improve and Toronto starting it's uptick with the drafting of Auston Matthews and the trade for Frederik Andersen.

Some might've expected Sweeney to attempt to steal the headlines with a dramatic trade for a player that could make an immediate impact on the NHL roster. After Sweeney's franchise-altering deals of last June, though, it should've been expected the GM would keep things calmer. It should be a relief to Bruins backers that Sweeney didn't go off the board when there were so many attractive choices available at No. 14.

There's still another day of the draft, a free-agent wooing period and then free agency and two months of summer for Sweeney to show with his actions the direction he's truly taking the Bruins in. Although the Bruins didn't shatter the Earth with their draft-day doings, and actually kept us scratching our heads a little bit, at least they added a player – McAvoy – who has near-unanimous support as a future NHL regular.

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