BUFFALO — The No. 14 pick would have been a powerful resource for Don Sweeney to tap in his pursuit of a ready-made, hair-on-his-chin, 200-foot adult defenseman.
High prices and the need to keep adding young talent, however, kept the Bruins general manager’s finger off the trade trigger.
By using the 14th pick to pick Boston University defenseman Charlie McAvoy instead of using it in a trade, Sweeney determined that adding an 18-year-old with the Terrier’s pedigree was more critical than reinforcing his rickety 2016-17 roster.
“We felt that to pass on the opportunity to draft a player of Charlie’s nature would have been tough,’’ Sweeney said.
Sweeney was right. Despite making 10 selections last June, including six in the first two rounds, the Bruins have yet to fill their prospect glass to the brim. McAvoy is a welcome addition.
McAvoy scored 3 goals and had 22 assists as a Hockey East freshman last year. The right-shot defenseman skated with fellow Bruins prospect Matt Grzelcyk (third round, 2012) on BU’s top pairing. He did not look out of place staring down dangerous forwards.
The 6-foot, 208-pound McAvoy fits the profile of the modern NHL defenseman: mobile, smart, skilled, and equipped for three-zone dependability. He joins Grzelcyk and classmate Jakob Forsbacka Karlsson (second round, 2015) as Black-and-Gold prospects claiming Commonwealth Ave. residency.
“He’s playing against guys that are four or five years older in some cases, and he really handled himself very well,’’ Sweeney said. “Very physical player. At times, you need to back him off, which is another good quality he has. He can puck-separate. He finds the middle of the ice. JFK spoke highly of that. He’s a center who wants the puck, wants it in motion, wants it when he’s going up the ice. I think it’s paramount for a defenseman to establish more than one option, recognize it, and execute it. Charlie does it well.’’
McAvoy will return to BU for his sophomore season. The Terriers will be loaded. While Grzelcyk will be in Providence, McAvoy and Forsbacka Karlsson will be the second-year veterans on a potential juggernaut that will welcome 2016 first-rounders Clayton Keller, Dante Fabbro, and Kieffer Bellows to campus.
That McAvoy and his fellow Terriers will be chasing a title does nothing for the 2016-17 Bruins in their hunt for their own trophy – a quest that has slim odds of success. They remain short a top-four defenseman, a commodity they desperately need. If Sweeney cannot land blue-line help, it will be a remain vote for Brexit, the Bruins’ pursuit of a getaway from their two-year stranglehold on ninth place in the Eastern Conference.
The ask for such an acquisition, however, were picks No. 14 and 29 (used on forward Trent Frederic) – and more. It was capital Sweeney could not afford to spend to chase high-priced windmills. They are not at the point where they have enough picks and prospects to apply toward immediate assistance.
“I wasn’t trading David Pastrnak,’’ Sweeney said. “We’ve been criticized, and rightfully so at times, for being impatient with some of our younger skilled players. This represents a good opportunity for us to establish that we don’t want to do that.’’
It was one thing for a team like Toronto to swap its 2016 first-rounder and a 2017 second-round pick to Anaheim for Frederik Andersen, a potential No. 1 goalie. The Maple Leafs were in position to send out a pair of selections because of a swath of future NHL gamebreakers, from Mitch Marner to William Nylander to Auston Matthews, the 2016 NHL Draft’s first overall pick.
The Bruins’ top prospects (McAvoy, Grzelcyk, Forsbacka Karlsson, Jeremy Lauzon, Brandon Carlo, and Rob O’Gara) do not have such a high degree of potential.
The Bruins could not afford to let a potential difference-maker like McAvoy go in a package for an NHL blue liner. They need every draft dart to throw at their board. Too many of their previous flings have sailed wide of their target, including a recent one.
At No. 13 last year, the Bruins drafted Jakub Zboril with the first of their three successive selections. The Bruins picked Zboril to be a possible replacement for Dougie Hamilton. That may not happen.
In his draft year, Zboril scored 13 goals and 20 assists in 44 games. One year later, Zboril took a step back, scoring just six goals and 14 assists in 50 games. Whether Zboril will return to Saint John, his QMJHL team, is in question. One executive classified the 19-year-old as a bust.
Despite that judgment, it is too early to scrub Zboril from the NHL register. But Zboril’s step back underscores the unreliable nature of projecting teenage talent. Success at the draft table can come down to math – pumping high-volume artillery at the net until multiple shots hit the target. McAvoy represents a puck that has a good chance of striking the back of the net for a long time. It wasn’t worth burning that opportunity, along with other assets, for a short-term solution.
“Make no mistake. We need to continue to improve,’’ Sweeney said. “The expectations are there. I get that. But there’s a patience part to this as well.’’
Sweeney’s next trick is to acquire an immediate blue-line upgrade. It became harder because he spent the 14th pick on McAvoy and No. 29 on Frederic. Now he has one less card to play.
Fluto Shinzawa can be reached at fluto.shinzawa@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeFluto.
