Don Sweeney Previews the 2026 NHL Draft, ‘Everything Has to be on the Table’

BOSTON –– The NHL offseason is officially ramping up.

With the draft commencing at the end of the week and the free agent market opening soon after, general manager Don Sweeney and the Boston Bruins have one goal in mind – to make their hockey team better.

“An important time in the season for us, and it’s been busy. Obviously, around the league and chatter, and I don’t think the transactions are going to stop between now and the timeframe in July. We’re eager to be participating. Haven’t yet,” Sweeney said. “But there has been a lot of chatter, so I expect things to continue, player movement and stuff heading into the draft to be busy.”

​The Bruins will have eight total selections at the 2026 NHL Entry Draft, which will be hosted at KeyBank Center in Buffalo, New York, on Friday and Saturday. Boston’s picks are as follows: First round (23rd overall), second round (56th overall), third round (88th overall), fourth round (104th, 111th and 122nd overall), fifth round (157th overall) and seventh round (216th overall).​

The B’s amateur scouting staff, led by director Ryan Nadeau and associate director Dean Malkoc, has been working all year to identify players in the Bruins’ range who can make a difference on a pro roster. Sweeney highlighted the top nine and right side on the backend as areas the team is looking to strengthen in general. But the draft is all about adapting.​

“Part of it is what the draft board is when you go to pick. Moving up or back is certainly part of that. Our guys have done a pretty good job, and I’ve talked to enough teams to sort of have an understanding of what teams might do…You just have to be aware of what teams may want to do in that situation. But the draft board dictates what direction you go – whether you’re taking a real swing and an upside swing,” Sweeney said. “You’re always trying to identify NHL players. Bottom line. You have to produce NHL players through the draft. Sometimes you do take a little more risk than other players, but it really is what the draft board presents.”

​Sweeney remains open to using the pick in other ways, too.

“I think everything has to be on the table this time of the year. Ultimately, our goal is to improve now and moving forward,” he said. “I think a competitive league is adding to the willingness to move – to move picks and in some of these cases, move players…It is all part of the same dynamic that we as managers have to continue to have a pulse of and be as proactive as we can.”

The organization is also keeping an eye on internal options. Sweeney pointed to Frederic Brunet as one player who could make an impact at the next level. The 22-year-old defenseman – who was a fifth-round pick for Boston in 2022 – had 36 points (12 goals, 24 assists) through 65 regular-season games with the Providence Bruins, which led the blueliners.

“I think he has put himself on our radar now to really push for NHL opportunity. He has had the one game, but you can see his game continue to grow. He’s rounded out defensively; he values that part of the game,” Sweeney said. “You have to have your defense involved and mobile enough, and he brings some of those attributes.”

There are current roster players, like Pavel Zacha, whom Sweeney would like to get locked down as well. Zacha has one year left on his contract and can be extended on July 1. The 29-year-old forward had a career-high 65 points (30 goals, 35 assists) through 78 games this year.

​“I would prefer to be proactive in that,” Sweeney said. “My goal is to extend Pav. He had a really good year; he’s an important player for us. If you asked Marco, he’d say the same thing – how important he is.”

As for the Bruins’ pending unrestricted free agents, both Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke’s contracts are up. Sweeney said he is working through the process with those guys.

​“We still have our own UFAs that we haven’t finalized anything. We have continued to discuss there,” Sweeney said. “I think complementing that group as it sits, and being cognizant of the goalscoring. We talked about adding speed, and any time we can add skill to our group, we are going to try to do that.”