With the 2022 NHL Draft almost a week away, three local players have made their way into the Top 50 North American skater prospects, according to final rank of NHL Central Scouting.
The Boston Bruins do not have a first round pick as a result of the March 19, 2022 trade with the Anaheim Ducks for Hampus Lindholm, but the team might be able to draft one of the local prospects in the second round with the 54th overall pick.
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Northeastern's Jack Hughes of Westwood, Mass. -- not to be confused with Jack Hughes on the New Jersey Devils -- is ranked at No. 26. The six-foot, 169-pound center is the son of the Montreal Canadiens general manager Kent Hughes. This past season at Northeastern, Hughes had seven goals and nine assists in 39 games. He is the highest-ranked NCAA player on NHL Central Scouting's final ranking.
"I describe myself as a playmaking forward and I think my two biggest assets are my skill and my hockey sense," said Hughes, via NHL.com. "I like to make plays, and I think I make players around me better."
Cameron Lund, who is committed to play for Northeastern as a freshman in the 2022-23 season, is ranked 40th. The Bridgewater, Mass., native currently plays for the Green Bay Gamblers in the USHL. This past season, Lund scored an impressive 25 goals and earned 25 assists in 62 games. At six-foot-two, 192-pounds the eighteen-year-old center has a bright future ahead of him.
Ben MacDonald from Weston, Mass., is ranked at No. 50. The six-foot, 180-pound center scored 14 goals and got 15 assists in just 22 games for Noble & Greenough School this past season. MacDonald, a Harvard commit, is the son of Harvard hockey legend Lane MacDonald, who won the Hobey Baker Award in 1989.
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The Bruins are in desperate need of future centers that they can help develop in anticipation of Patrice Bergeron's eventual retirement. With the 54th overall pick, the Bruins might have the chance to draft one of these local centers.
Fans will have to wait until next week to see how these three young centers do and who the Bruins will select in the 2022 NHL Draft. Round 1 of the draft start at 7 p.m. ET on Thursday, July 7. Round 2-7 will begin at 11 a.m. on Friday, July 8.