Bruins Should Consider Drafting Jake O’Brien 7th Overall

The most notable trait that O’Brien brings to the table is his dominant playmaking ability. The 6-foot-2, 170-pound center from Toronto, Ontario offers game-changing passing skills that are only complemented by his consistently impressive vision. O’Brien has an NHL-sized frame that he needs to add mass to, but that shouldn’t be an issue when he gets into an NHL training room. On top of his elite playmaking ability, the right-shot center also offers a very good shot, which forces defenders to respect him and not cheat towards his linemates, closing off passing lanes.

Outside of the offensive ability, which again is highlighted by strong passing abilities, excellent vision and noticeable stick skills, O’Brien is also a very strong defender. The Bruins have been trying to fill the shoes of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci since the veterans retired in 2023, and while it will be impossible to replace them, O’Brien offers a skillset that can help offset some of the losses. When a player offers so many strong, demonstrable traits and also shows high character, coachability, accountability and captain qualities at just 18 years old, it’s hard not to get excited about what he can turn into down the line.

His passing totals were impressive as a rookie with the Brantford Bulldogs during the 2023-24 season, with the then-16-year-old putting up 51 assists and 64 points in just 61 games. O’Brien also added four assists and five points in six playoff games that season. His assist total would climb from 51 to 66 in his second season with the Bulldogs, but his goal total jumped from 13 to 32 in his sophomore campaign, which really stood out and helped elevate him from a potential late first-round pick into a player teams seriously had to consider throughout the draft process. Scoring 32 goals and 98 points in 66 games is no joke, and adding another three goals and 11 points in 11 playoff games showed that the stage was never too big for him.

How O’Brien Fits Bruins’ Blueprint

If O’Brien falls to the Bruins at seventh overall in the draft, they’d be hard-pressed to find a better value pick to help lead them to contention. While he’s unlikely to immediately make the jump to the NHL and be an instant contributor out of the OHL, it’s impossible not to note how O’Brien would improve the team based on their current deficiencies. Adding a strong two-way player to the lineup who can drive play as both a scorer and a playmaker would already be reason enough for any team to take note. When considering that O’Brien had an impressive 40 power-play assists in 66 games last season, however, it should immediately trigger some alarms for the Bruins.

When the Bruins were most successful over the last decade-plus of action, they consistently found themselves in the top 10 and often top five of the NHL in terms of power play success and penalty killing success. Unfortunately, the Bruins would finish the season with just a dismal 15.2 power-play percentage, good for 29th in the NHL. Their penalty kill wasn’t much better, with the team killing just 76.3% of penalties last season, ranking them in the bottom 10 of the league at 24th overall.

While the team’s issues now ideally won’t be an issue for them at the time of O’Brien’s promotion to the NHL, it’s still nice to see that he addresses some of these issues. Still, the team should be drafting based on the best available talent rather than current needs, so these should just be gravy rather than the reason they select him.

O’Brien is a good and smooth skater who lacks elite upside in the category. He doesn’t have the top-end speed of some of his peers, but he can still get the job done. Another area of improvement, and perhaps the biggest one for O’Brien that he’ll need to refine and improve his technique for, will be his faceoff abilities. With Bergeron and Krejci on the Bruins, the team never had to worry about winning faceoffs; O’Brien offers a lot of upside, but his ability at the dot will need to improve, especially after winning just 44.7% of his draws last season. Something else that’s noticeable about O’Brien is that, as a pass-first center, he’ll often defer from taking a shot in favor of making a pass; not a deal-breaker, but something that his coaching staff will have to drill in his brain early.

The Bruins need skilled players who offer strong IQ and two-way ability. O’Brien has some work to do to improve his game, but the Bruins could do far worse than him when they’re on the clock at seventh overall. It wouldn’t be at all surprising to see O’Brien selected earlier than seventh when everything is said and done. The Bruins are going to have options on Draft night, especially in a very strong center class at the top.