The Boston Bruins' 2015 draft has mostly been a failure.
Rising star Jake DeBrusk, who Boston selected 14th overall that year, has been the lone bright spot from a draft where the B's had three consecutive first-round picks (Nos. 13-15) and four second-round picks. In fairness to Brandon Carlo, he's had a nice NHL career, but he's not an impact player for Boston.
The Bruins selected 10 players in the 2015 draft and only DeBrusk and Carlo have played more than 30 NHL games.
One of the players the Bruins took in Round 1 was forward Zach Senyshyn at No. 15. It was a reach at the time, as many experts didn't predict him to even be selected in the first round. Senyshyn played well in the OHL but has struggled with the AHL's Providence Bruins over the last two seasons. Senyshyn has scored just 26 goals in 126 career AHL games.
Nevertheless, he is expected to make his NHL debut Thursday night when the B's take on the Minnesota Wild on the road.
"Obviously I'm really excited and just trying to soak it all in right now ... it was a great call," Senyshyn told reporters, via the team's website. "Was really excited to get here and join the team. A great group of guys."
He later added: "I was a little bit more raw last year. I definitely had to fine tune a couple things and really round out my game. I feel like with a lot of help from my coaches down in Providence that it's gotten a lot better. I still hope to grow and take my game to the next level with a little bit of experience up here."
This is a huge opportunity for Senyshyn. He'll probably play the last two games of the regular season, and even though Boston and neither of its final opponents have anything to play for, evaluating how the young forward adapts to the speed and physicality of the NHL game will be good for the Bruins.
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