BOSTON (AP) — The Boston Bruins are trying to move up from the 25th pick in the NHL draft to take a particular player they like.

That player is not among a group of about four in the draft who are ready to play next season, Bruins general manager Peter Chiarelli said Tuesday.

“I’ve had a couple of discussions on moving a couple of slots up,” he said of the two-day draft in Montreal starting Friday. “Our guys have our eyes on this one player that is (rated) higher than where we’re picking and so, certainly, one of my goals is to at least try and move up.

“I don’t know if I’ll succeed at it, but we’ll try”

There has been a lot of talk among teams about making trades “but I don’t know if that translates into more trades,” Chiarelli said during a conference call.

The Bruins have the 25th pick after posting the best record in the Eastern Conference and being eliminated in the second round. They chose earlier in each of the last four seasons but did well the previous two seasons when they had no first-round choices, taking Patrice Bergeron in 2003 and David Krejci in 2004, both in the second round.

Chiarelli doesn’t have a second-round pick this year but would like to get one.

“I wouldn’t be devastated if I didn’t because we feel that there are a couple of good players a little later on down in the draft,” he said.

He also could deal a veteran.

The Bruins began the offseason facing a challenge to re-sign restricted free agents Krejci, their second leading scorer last season, and Phil Kessel, their top goal scorer.

They signed Krejci to a three-year deal worth more than $11 million just before he had hip surgery that could sideline him for the first month of the season. Kessel, who had postseason shoulder surgery and may not be ready for the start of the season, remains unsigned and could be a victim of the salary cap.

“It’s been well documented that I may have to do something,” Chiarelli said. “I don’t have to do anything at any point in time (but) because there’s so many people in the same city, it’s just easier to do it.”

Asked about contract talks regarding Kessel, the fifth overall pick of the 2006 draft, Chiarelli said, “I don’t comment on negotiations.”

He’s focusing on drafting the best player available, regardless of position, but said he has an alternate list that takes into account the needs of the franchise.

“We haven’t drafted a lot of defensemen lately,” Chiarelli said, but “it’s sometimes dangerous when you draft on need. But there are some good defensemen in that first round.”

None of the six players the Bruins drafted last year are defensemen. And none of the six defensemen they drafted in 2006 and 2007 has played for them.

But in the seventh round of 2004, they chose defenseman Matt Hunwick, who was solid in 53 regular-season games last season before having his spleen removed after the first postseason game. He thought he could have played had the Bruins gone farther in the playoffs.

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