The Bruins may have been in enemy territory in Montreal. But Brunet was feeling right at home.
"Hearing my name by the Boston Bruins in the stands with my family and all my close friends and everything is an awesome feeling," said Brunet, who grew up within a couple of hours of Bell Centre. "I could not describe it, but unbelievable feeling and I'm so happy to be a part of it."
Brunet spent his last year with the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL, recording 12 goals and 34 assists for 46 points in 63 games. Brunet also had a good playoff run, appearing in nine games while recording three assists and four penalty minutes.
"Very good for me this year - not for points, but my game just stepped up in ways and I'm happy for it," said Brunet. "The Oceanic organization is an awesome organization that I wouldn't be here without and it's so awesome to have this result and have a step in the door for the NHL."
When asked what he hopes to work on, defense is at the top of the list. "I have worked a lot this year with my defensive coach and my coaches to work on being a bit more reliable and two-way on the ice," said Brunet. "Especially on pucks on the outside, in 1-on-1 battles."
As for his offensive game, it is something he is always trying to improve on, but not something that's an urgent concern. "I'm always improving on that part of my game, to one day take the next step," he said. "Maybe in a couple of years."
Ryan Nadeau, Bruins Director of Amateur Scouting, said he was impressed with the blue liner's recent improvements.
"Frederic is a player that we had been tracking for a little bit, he had a big jump production-wise year over year," said Nadeau. "We really liked what he was doing this year and his game progressed throughout the season. We think he added some additional defensive layers to his game, as well as really smooth puck-moving kid with a good frame."
Nadeau added that Brunet's strong athletic genes has certainly worked in his favor.
"You don't want to overvalue it - at the end of the day, we're picking him, not his family members," Nadeau acknowledged. "But I think just growing up in a competitive household like that, with a brother [Cedric] who's trying to be an Olympic speed skater and his dad [Michel] being an Olympian [for Canada in figure skating at the 1998 Winter Olympics], his uncle [Dominick] being an Olympian [in freestyle skiing] - you just grow up in a household that's that competitive non-stop and you're around it.
"The drive of that is what we saw in the player on the ice and in the growth. So, when you add that into the mix, it's probably more a better story than it is fully factored in, but you can see in the way his game has grown, there's a competitiveness and a drive to succeed. And it can't hurt to be from a household that way."
While living in Quebec this offseason, Brunet has been training with some pretty familiar company for Bruins fans.
"[Patrice] Bergeron and I are training at Laval University in Quebec, there's a gym down there. We're training there, like a lot of hockey players. It's a small group, there's a couple NHL guys and a lot of QMJHL players and everything," said Brunet.
Brunet admitted to being a bit timid when first seeing the captain, saying, "I was shy to talk to him because he is kind of a big deal in the NHL."
But with Bergy being Bergy, of course, Brunet was able to gather some solid advice.
"Once we got done with training, I just took my gear to go home. But he said, 'Oh, it's your draft year and everything, you're going there this weekend?' And he just started to talk to me," said Brunet. "He said 'good luck, and if it doesn't happen, it doesn't happen. But it's not the end of the journey if it doesn't happen.'"
Brunet plans on reconnecting with Bergeron when he returns to training, this time with an easy conversation starter in his back pocket.
