Bruins Players From Boston List

Billy O'Dwyer was born on January 25, 1960, in South Boston. Bill played in NHL from 1983-90, while he was picked by LA Kings in the 1980 draft.

He had chosen to play for his varsity team at Boston College and later New Haven Nighthawks in the 1982-83 season. The 6 feet tall center player only joined the Kings in the 1983-84 season and managed his time between AHL and NHL till the next season. 

Meanwhile, Billy joined Boston Bruins from the 1987–88 season to the 1989–90 season. Following that, he returned to AHL, playing with Maine Mariners, New Haven Nighthawks, and Phoenix Roadrunners until he retired after the 1991-92 season.

Chris Bourque is one of the most famous Boston Bruins players of all time. The ice hockey forward played in AHL, NHL, Team USA and other leagues.

Bourque first joined NHL during the 2007-08 season with Washington Capitals and played for Pittsburgh Penguins the following season. He did not return and balanced his playing time AHL, NHL, Kontinental Hockey League (KHL), and National League (NLA) till the 2012-13 season.  

Bourque played with the Bruins in 2012, making it his last season in the National Hockey League. He currently plays for ERC Ingolstadt (Panthers) of Deutsche Eishockey Liga (DEL) in Ingolstadt, Upper Bavaria.

Moreover, he was a part of Team USA at the 2018 Winter Olympics, where the United States finished in the seventh position overall. Chris was born in Boston but grew up in Topsfield, Massachusetts.

Best known for his tendency to fight on the rink, "Knuckles" Chris Nilan played with the Bruins for two seasons, 1990-91 and 1991-92.

As a Boston native, Nilan had a childhood dream of playing for the Bruins that only came true in 1990, eleven years after he turned professional.

Nilan was selected 231st overall by Montreal Canadiens at the 1978 NHL Draft. He played with the Canadiens until the 1987–88 season. The following season, he joined New York Rangers and played with them for the upcoming three seasons. 

Chris bid adieu to his hockey career in 1992 and now hosts his own Podcast, "The Raw Knuckles, which recently invited golfer James Barriere.

Former NHL goalie Cleon Daskalakis was born in Boston on September 29, 1962. He played college hockey for the Boston University Terriers.

Daskalakis was named to the NCAA's East All-American First Team in the 1983–84 season. Though he went undrafted at the 1984 NHL Draft, the Bruins had signed him on a free-agent contract.

Cleon played 12 games with Boston from 1984 to 1987 while also playing in AHL. His appearance with the Bruins during the 1986-87 season was his last in NHL, as he shifted to AHL, IHL, and FIN-2 later.

Daskalakis represented Team USA at the 1989 Ice Hockey World Championships and retired from his pro career after the 1988-89 season.

Brought up in Boston's Charlestown neighborhood, center Jim Vesey played ice hockey from a young age. He went on to play for Merrimack College varsity team to start a pro career.

The St. Louis Blues had drafted him 155th overall at the 1984 NHL Entry Draft. However, Jim shifted to the International Hockey League (IHL) the next season and traveled between the two leagues.

Vesey only got to play with his hometown team, the Bruins, in the 1991-92 season but did not return the following year. He played in AHL and IHL until he retired in 1995.

He has been working as a scout for the Toronto Maple Leafs since August 2014. His son, Jimmy, plays as a left wing for the New York Rangers.

Matt Grzelcyk was selected 85th overall by the Boston Bruins at the 2012 NHL Draft. The defenceman has played 382 NHL matches to date.

Grzelcyk won the 2018–19 Conference Championships with the Bruins, along with a President's Trophy in the 2019–20 and 2022–23 seasons.

A true Boston native, Matt captained the Boston University Terriers during his junior and senior seasons in the NCAA Hockey East Conference.

Boston-born Mike Mulbury had immediately signed with the Bruins in 1974. The defenceman played all of his 12 NHL seasons with them.

Mulbury retired in 1987 after helping the team reach the 1977 and 1978 Stanley Cup Finals. Up until recently, he had been a long-time television color commentator and analyst for the NHL on NBC from 2007 to 2021.

Mike Mottau was drafted 182nd overall by the New York Rangers at the 1997 NHL Draft. However, he continued playing with his varsity team and made his debut with the Rangers during the 2000–01 season.

Since then, Mottau traveled back and forth between NHL and AHL and finally became a Bruins team member during the 2011-12 season.

Mike retired in 2014, with the Panthers being his last NHL team. He currently works as an online Hockey Development Coach at The 6th Line and also as a host of "The Rink Sinks" podcast alongside Brian Yandle.

Ice hockey defense prodigy Paul Stanton was selected 149th overall by Pittsburgh Penguins during the 1985 NHL Draft. He was a high school senior back then.

However, Paul first played in NHL in 1991 and later joined the Bruins in the 1993-94 season. He last played for an NHL team, New York Islanders, for the 1994-95 season and permanently moved to DEL.

Following a two-decade-long career, he retired in 2005 and now serves as an assistant coach for the Florida Gulf Coast University Hockey Team.

A Harvard graduate Ted Donato has continued head coaching Harvard's ice hockey varsity team since 2004. Ted was selected 98th overall by Boston Bruins at the 1987 NHL Draft.

Donato played with them till the 1998–99 season and became a part of the Islanders and the Senators in the following seasons. While he played dynamically over AHL and other NHL teams in his career, he again returned to the Bruins in 2003.

Ted retired from his playing career in 2004 and took up coaching immediately. His son Ryan Donato plays for Seattle Kraken alongside Morgan Geekie.

Calgary Flames drafted an 18-year-old Tim Sweeney at the 1985 NHL Draft. However, he chose to play college ice hockey at Boston College and later at IHL before debuting in NHL.

Tim was a part of the Bruins during the 1992–93 season and returned in the 1995–96 and 1996-97 seasons. He retired in 1999 and worked as a color commentator for Boston College and Hockey East games.

Boston Bruins players 2023 from their home state are:

• Charlie Coyle
• Matt Grzelcyk

Charlie Coyle

The 31-year-old center for the Bruins, Charlie Coyle, was born in Weymouth, Massachusetts. He, along with Matt, are the only two players from Massachusetts as of 2023.

Charlie played ice hockey for Thayer Academy and Boston University. The Sharks selected him as a 28th overall pick during the 2010 NHL Draft.

However, Coyle only made his NHL debut in 2012 with Minnesota Wild and continued playing with them until the 2018-19 season. As of then, Coyle has been a regular player for the Bruins.

He shares a great rapport alongside his team members, Tomas Nosek, Brandon Carlo, Jake DeBrusk, and Tyler Bertuzzi, among others.