Bradley grades the draft class
The last two months haven't been easy for Scott Bradley.
On Sept. 16, Boston's director of amateur scouting lost his father, Bart Bradley, a longtime Bruins scout and the club's former director of player evaluation, to pneumonia.
"He was the pillar I leaned on," said Bradley, who was in Montreal Monday on a scouting trip.
Bradley's job, however, hasn't allowed him much time for mourning. Bradley, one of the select holdovers from the Harry Sinden/Mike O'Connell era, has been traveling around North America, keeping tabs on current Boston property and helping to shape the game plan for the 2007 draft.
"You run out of time in this business," said Bradley. "I've got to see everybody once we identify the top guys."
Bradley said the Bruins aren't necessarily in line with the preliminary rankings released by the Central Scouting Service last month, though they will use the CSS rankings as a guide to identify prospects.
Forward Angelo Esposito (Quebec Remparts) was the top-ranked skater in the Quebec Major Junior League, while forward Sam Gagner (London Knights), son of former NHLer Dave Gagner, was the No. 1 skater in the Ontario Hockey League. In the Western Hockey League, defenseman Keaton Ellerby (Kamloops Blazers) was the top-ranked skater. Bradley said goaltending doesn't look especially strong for 2007.
Esposito, like Phil Kessel at one time last year, was once considered a near-lock to be the first overall pick.
But Bradley, who planned to scout Esposito (no relation to former NHL players Phil or Tony) this month, said the forward -- who looked at Boston University and the University of New Hampshire before committing to major junior -- hasn't had a top-notch season.
Based on early projections, Bradley said the 2007 class is looking like an average crop, although it looks as though there will be 10 decent first-round picks.
Bradley, the man behind recent selections such as Hannu Toivonen, Patrice Bergeron, Matt Lashoff, and the Special K crew (David Krejci, Martins Karsums, and Petr Kalus), said the upcoming World Junior Championships, to be held in Sweden this month, will strengthen the club's assessments of the 2007 field.
Bradley singled out Esposito, Gagner, and Patrick Kane (Gagner's American-born teammate who broke Kessel's scoring records at USA Hockey's National Team Development Program) as players who could make an impact.
On Monday, Hockey Canada released its 38-man lineup for the National Junior Selection Camp, which will take place Dec. 10-15 in Calgary. Among the invitees is forward Brad Marchand, Boston's third-round pick in the 2006 draft.
The Bruins will also be tracking the performances of goalie Tuukka Rask (Finland), forward Mikko Lehtonen (Finland), and defenseman Yuri Alexandrov (Russia) during the world juniors, which Bradley will attend in Sweden.
He said he's received good progress reports on Rask, the puckstopping prospect the Bruins acquired from the Maple Leafs for Andrew Raycroft. Lehtonen (2005, third round) and Alexandrov (2006, second round) are Boston draft picks.
The organization has yet to identify specific needs for the 2007 draft, but Bradley said general manager Peter Chiarelli will be laying out the blueprint in the upcoming months. "It's a new regime with Peter," said Bradley. "He's putting down the framework for the organization."
