Adam Novotny’s season with the Peterborough Petes changed the way he is being discussed ahead of the NHL Draft. The 18-year-old Czechia forward finished with 34 goals and 31 assists in 58 games, a line that has moved him into the first-round conversation and left the Bruins staring at a possible problem at No. 23.
That is why Novotny is being searched now: his production came in his first North American season, and it came fast enough to force a new read on where he might go. He had already spent his 17-year-old season in Czechia’s top professional tier, but the jump to the OHL gave him a stage that seems to have raised his stock more sharply than Boston would like.
Scott Wheeler projected Novotny to go 18th to the Capitals, which matters because it gives a clean marker for where the floor may no longer be. If a prospect is landing at 18th in one mock draft, the Bruins are not dealing with a player who can safely be treated as a mid-20s option. To get him, Boston would have to get ahead of the 18th pick, which is the kind of move that turns a simple selection into a trade-up conversation.
For the Bruins, the appeal is obvious. They are in that awkward grey area between a rebuild and a retool, and a forward who can score the way Novotny did fits the need for offensive wing talent. Boston also has a recent example of how a later first-round Czechia winger can turn into a real piece, with David Pastrnak coming later in the first round. But the comparison only sharpens the issue: if Novotny keeps climbing, the Bruins may like the fit more than the draft board allows.
That is the part that now hangs over Boston’s draft night planning. The next step is the NHL Draft itself, and the unanswered question is not whether Novotny fits the Bruins, but whether No. 23 is already too late.
