The Bruins desperately need a few top prospects to become good everyday NHL players. The high-profile draft pick in 2021 for the Boston Bruins is regarded as Fabian Lysell, a skilled and speedy winger showing great promise for the Providence Bruins in the American Hockey League. Lysell was the 21st pick in the draft and has registered 5-9-14 in 17 games this season. The Bruins expect big things from the 5-foot-11, 175-pound forward.
There is another 2021 draftee making strides in his third season with the Oshawa Generals of the Ontario Hockey League. Center Brett Harrison is showing goal-scoring ability with a high-level shot that has produced 12 goals in 19 games this season. Harrison signed an Amateur Tryout Offer (ATO) with Boston last May but missed training camp with an injury. The third-round pick (85th overall) had a big year for Oshawa in 2021-22 with 27 goals and 34 assists in 65 games. In the postseason, the 6-foot-3 center scored four goals as the Generals lost in the first round in six games.
Harrison broke his fibula in the second to last preseason game but has started the season on a tear, becoming one of the top goal-scorers in the league. The Dorchester, Ontario native is on pace to score 43 goals this season and should be a player to watch this summer in the Bruins’ rookie development camp. The 19-year-old’s ability to shoot the puck is what Boston found most attractive.
Heading into the draft, the scout on Harrison, according to Elite Prospects, was that the forward “hunts pockets of space and loves to trail behind the play to receive drop passes and fire from the top of the circle. He is physical around the slot.” The Bruins would like to see a more 200-foot game from Harrison as he gets closer to playing professional hockey.
The signs are there, however, for Brett Harrison to progress into a quality NHL player. The Bruins will need youth at the center position within the next couple of seasons, and a productive Harrison would be a huge addition then.
The 16th overall pick in the 2019 OHL Priority Selection, Harrison traveled overseas. He spent the 2020-21 season in Finland skating with KOOVEE’s U20 club, the U20 SM-Sarja, following the suspension of the OHL season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The forward had an impressive stint with KOOVEE, recording nine points (four goals, five assists) in seven games. Following his time in Finland, Harrison returned to Canada to quarantine ahead of the IIHF Under-18 Men’s World Championship in Frisco, Texas. Harrison scored two goals in seven games for Team Canada, who defeated Team Russia, 5-3, for the country’s first U18 gold medal since 2013.
Boston hopes Harrison and 2022 second-round pick Matthew Poitras continue to develop this season with an eye toward the future. Both have made early impressions in the OHL. Poitras is becoming one of the better playmakers and finding his goal-scoring touch, while Harrison is becoming more aggressive offensively and scoring more. Both prospects are worth keeping an eye on as this season goes along.
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Just as I started reading this article. Harrison scored against London. Big boy, NHL shot, sees the ice well. Needs some work on his skating. Will be a good fit for the Bruins in due time.