The Boston Bruins have found gems at the NHL Draft in the past 20 years.
The Boston Bruins have been a consistent playoff team basically since their fourth Stanley Cup in franchise history back in 1970. In those 52 years, the Bruins have missed the postseason just seven times and no more than two consecutive years at a time.
Because of that, the Bs haven't had the luxury of drafting high and getting to select a Mario Lemieux, Sidney Crosby or Connor McDavid. So management has had to trust the scouting department with picks later in the rounds of the draft, and a few that come to mind have been anchoring the team's top line for a few years now.
Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Milan Lucic, Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak
Bergeron was drafted in the second round, 45th overall in the 2003 NHL Draft and has been a mainstay on the Boston Bruins. In his 18 seasons with the club (captain for the last two), he has collected 400 goals and 582 assists for 982 points in 1,216 games. Bergy is as clutch as they come, with 49 goals and 78 assists for 127 points in 167 playoff games, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.
Krejci was selected in the third round, 63rd overall, in the 2004 NHL Draft. He played all 962 games of his career with the Boston Bruins and collected 215 goals and 515 assists for 730 points. He led the NHL in playoff points in both the 2011 and 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs. In total, he had 42 goals and 82 assists in 156 postseason games.
Lucic was drafted in the second round, 50th overall, at the 2004 NHL Entry Draft and would go on to play 566 games with the Bs. He would record 139 goals and 203 assists for 342 points. Looch was the ultimate power forward during his days as a Bruins, as he also collected 1,580 hits. He played 96 postseason games with Boston, where he put up 26 goals and 58 assists.
Marchand was drafted in the third round, 71st overall, in the 2006 NHL Draft and has amassed 351 goals and 444 assists for a total of 795 points in 874 games. He also has 49 goals and 69 assists for 118 points in 139 playoff games and was also an integral piece of the 2011 Stanley Cup Championship.
Pastrnak was a little higher of a pick than the other two but was still a steal at where he was picked compared to his draft class now. Pasta was drafted in the first round, 25th overall, at the 2014 NHL Entry Draft. In 510 games, he has 240 goals and 264 assists for 504 points, as well as 30 goals and 44 assists in 70 career playoff games. From the 2014 NHL Draft, David Pastrnak ranks second in points, only behind Leon Draisaitl, drafted third overall by the Edmonton Oilers, who has 616 points.
