Boston Bruins
“We felt we needed to get back out in front of having depth in that position.”
Jeremy Swayman is expected to be the top option in net for Boston for the foreseeable future. John Tlumacki/The Boston Globe
June 30, 2026 | 5:57 PM
3 minutes to read
The Boston Bruins have no shortage of success when it comes to identifying and developing goalie talent under the tutelage of Bob Essensa and Mike Dunham.
Under both Essensa (Boston’s goaltender coach) and Dunham (Boston’s goalie development coach), Boston has seen netminders like fourth-round pick Jeremy Swayman, college free agent Brandon Bussi, beleaguered ex-Sabres starter Linus Ullmark, and former ECHL regular Michael DiPietro reach new heights in their collective craft.
Given that track record of striking gold on underutilized or unsung goalie projects — coupled with Swayman’s standing as Boston’s de facto No. 1 option in net for the coming years — Boston’s strategy during the 2026 NHL Draft raised a few eyebrows.
Despite a seemingly evident need to bolster Boston’s barren pipeline of stout, right-shot defensemen in its system, the Bruins focused on the net during this past weekend’s draft, allocating two of their seven picks on goalies.
With their first pick of the 2026 NHL Draft, Boston selected goalie Yuri Ivanov in the second round (No. 56 overall), before later plucking Roberto Henriquez in the sixth round with pick No. 170.
It was an interesting pivot for the Bruins, but one that Bruins director of amateur scouting Ryan Nadeau stressed was a worthwhile investment, given the sentiments shared by Boston’s goalie coaches and other evaluators.
“One of those picks where you could look at public lists and say, ‘Okay, is it worth waiting on him and taking a chance that he’s there later on?’ “But for us, if you want the player, we didn’t want to risk waiting,” Nadeau said of Ivanov.
Ivanov’s standing as a second-round pick stands in stark contrast to a few publicly listed draft evaluations, with NHL Central Scouting deeming the 17-year-old as the 10th-ranked netminder in this draft class.
Boston instead made him the second of 32 total netminders selected in the 2026 NHL Draft, with Boston banking on the 6-foot-2 Russian’s athleticism and high ceiling — even if it will take some time for that to be realized in the pro ranks.
He impressed in Russia’s top junior hockey league with MHK Spartak Moskva this past year, sporting a 13-3-1, .924 save percentage. He played a key role in Spartak’s run to the Kharlamov Cup Final, posting a .928 save percentage over 16 playoff appearances.
Ivanov has been as advertised so far during Boston’s development camp, showcasing some of that tantalizing athleticism with several impressive post-to-post stops.
Don Sweeney acknowledged on Saturday that Ivanov will likely spend at least two years in Russia before even considering taking another leap over to North America.
”It’s a long timeline,” Sweeney said of Ivanov’s timeline. “We felt we needed to get back out in front of having depth in that position. So we attacked it [Saturday]. [It] presented, and our guys did a lot of work to be able to feel like they were good in that spot.”
Whereas Ivanov will need a few more years to marinate overseas, the Bruins’ development staff only needs to make a quick jaunt on the Green Line to keep tabs on Henriquez, who will join Boston College in the fall.
The son of a Dominican father and a Slovakian mother, Henriquez was born and raised in Bratislava before moving to the US in 2024. After a year spent with the Anchorage Wolverines (NAHL), Henriquez popped with the USHL’s Green Bay Gamblers in 2025-26, posting a .921 save percentage
Nadeau praised Henriquez’s “competitiveness” during their scouting evaluations, with the 19-year-old netminder likely earning a seal of approval from Swayman after he dropped the gloves with another goalie in November.
Parker MacKay, Boston’s player development coordinator and college scout, believes both netminders have found their footing already in camp — even with the expected jitters and language barriers that come with some European prospects.
“They’re both excellent kids,” MacKay said Tuesday. “They’ve been nothing but — for the first two days — very attentive. Speaking with Mike Dunham — I can speak for him — he’s enjoyed what he’s seen so far.”
Both Ivanov and Henriquez will be able to showcase their stuff during Thursday’s development camp scrimmage, which usually ends with an extended stretch of shootout bids.
The Bruins are inviting some questions over their draft strategy when it comes to allocating coveted picks towards a position they’ve proven to be adept at extracting value from.
But, Nadeau stressed that an already stout pipeline of goaltending talent in Boston is only getting stronger with both Ivanov and Henriquez in the system.
“I can share that, really, our goalie guys were really excited to take a swing here,” Nadeau said. “We liked where this kid [Ivanov] was going. I got to see him last weekend and meet with him. We just felt really comfortable with this pick right here.”
Conor Ryan is a staff writer covering the Bruins, Celtics, Patriots, and Red Sox for Boston.com, a role he has held since 2023.
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