Bruins’ Prospect Will Zellers Continues to Impress in USHL

Will Zellers, the 76th overall pick in the 2024 NHL Entry Draft by the Colorado Avalanche, was acquired by the Bruins in the Coyle trade. The 5-foot-10, 163-pound winger has emerged as a top scorer in the USHL with the Green Bay Gamblers, scoring 40 goals and 63 points so far this season.

Zellers currently leads the league in goals and sits second in overall points. For comparison, his teammate Aidan Park is second in the league with 30 goals, but he’s done so in 51 games compared to Zellers’ 45. When looking at scoring efficiency, Zellers’ success is even more evident. He boasts a league-best .889 goals-per-game rate, comfortably ahead of second-place Ivan Ryabkin’s .700 rate. His point production is equally impressive, with a 1.40 points-per-game rate that surpasses both Park and Ryker Lee, who are tied for second with 1.20 points per game.

Zellers’ Path to the NHL

The Minnesota native was originally committed to joining the Boston University Terriers next season but instead will play for the North Dakota Fighting Hawks. While it’s unfortunate that he won’t be playing within arm’s length of the Bruins, his development at the collegiate ranks will be a crucial next step for Zellers. What he’s doing in the USHL is very impressive, but it’ll be telling if he can continue this sort of production when given significantly less time and space next season in a superior league.

The talent that the 18-year-old Zellers possesses is undeniable. What isn’t known, however, is whether his abilities will translate as he works his way up the ranks and tries to eventually crack a professional lineup. Zellers has an innate ability to make quick plays in tight due to his great hands and smart decision-making. He’s also very good at creating plays both for himself and for his linemates when the puck is on his stick. These are traits that the Bruins could sorely use at the NHL level one day and Zellers has the chance to offer them a scoring touch they desperately need behind David Pastrnak.

With the Bruins trending towards a top-10 draft pick this spring and with a pretty barren pipeline, adding a top-tier prospect is imperative. As it stands, the team is set to have talent developing at every level, including Zellers in the collegiate ranks, Fraser Minten who has shined in the AHL with the Providence Bruins since being acquired in the Carlo trade, and the team owns four first-round picks and five second-round picks in the next three drafts. Sweeney may not have done a good enough job of keeping the Bruins competitive this season, but he did find a way to get some excellent return on investment for his core when the time came to make a change. Sweeney still hasn’t led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup victory, but it would be impossible to argue that he didn’t put the team in a great situation to win; at some point, the onus is on the players to get the job done.

The Bruins are going to need as many shots at the dartboard as they can get in the coming years and Zellers is looking like a steal just one season after being taken in the third round. If he can continue working on the little things in his game, add some muscle and maintain a solid level of scoring at the collegiate level, he could develop into a valuable asset for the Bruins at the professional level.