Some of the gems have gone on to dazzle elsewhere, but the 2006 entry draft delivered great gifts to the Bruins. They took Phil Kessel at No. 5, Milan Lucic at No. 50, and Brad Marchand, the loveable L’il Ball o’ Hate, at No. 71.

Now the Bruins hope to harvest a diamond in the rough in Peter Mueller, the No. 8 pick in the same draft, albeit by the Phoenix Coyotes. Ten years later, and with some career remedial work ahead of him, the 28-year-old Mueller is in the Bruins’ training camp on a personal tryout basis, hoping to prove to everyone, including himself, that he’s ready for a return to NHL prime time.

“I think over the years I was probably labeled as a European player,’’ said Mueller, who skated for the first time Friday with a bunch of players he hopes to call teammates in 2016-17. “I kind of made up my mind Jan. 1 of the new year — I was always looking at North America, who was playing, who was not playing — and I really said to myself that I want to do whatever I can to make it back here.

“That’s when I started to make sure that everyone knew I was serious about coming back. I am very honored and humbled to be in this situation I am in right now.’’

At his best, which the NHL has seen only in flashes, the 6-foot-2, 205-pound Mueller is a point-producing winger, either from the left or right side. He can pass and score, assets the Bruins need on their top lines, particularly after the loss of right winger Loui Eriksson to Vancouver in the offseason as a free agent.

Mueller, dealt from Phoenix to Colorado late in his third NHL season, had his career turned upside down late the following season with the Avs when a heavy check by Rob Blake left him with severe concussion. He missed a substantial portion of the following year, did not regain his touch, then failed to produce much in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season after signing as a free agent with the Florida Panthers.

“That is kind of just what happens,’’ said Mueller, now trying to regain his NHL credentials after three seasons in Europe, two in Switzerland and one in Europe. ‘’You go over there a few years and that’s basically just the way hockey goes, I guess. I am not 19, I am not 18, where I am trying to come into here for the first time.

“You know, I have played six years over here and I played three years over there, so it’s kind of a different standard from my aspect. I just wanted to make it known that I am available and I want to make it back here as much as I can.’’

If that means signing in Boston and starting the season with AHL Providence, Mueller said he’ll do it. Confronted with the same scenario two years ago with St. Louis, he chose not to play for the Blues’ AHL affiliate, and opted for Europe, a move he now regrets.

“To be honest, it kind of goes back to being young and not really thinking,’’ said Mueller, who chose instead to play for Kloten in the Swiss League. “I thought, personally, it was best for me to go over to Europe. And now I can stand here and tell you it wasn’t the right choice. And I take full responsibility for it because I should have gone down to the American League and trained and done that. But . . . you become older and you start to become a family man and you realize the things you’ve done a couple of years ago probably weren’t the smartest ideas.’’

Offered the tryout chance here by Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, Mueller said he worked hard over the summer, hiring both a skills and skating coach to prep him for his NHL re-entry. He worked out in Vancouver, Minneapolis and then Toronto, the latter stop including lengthy skating sessions with NHL players, a number of whom were working out ahead of the ongoing World Cup of Hockey.

Mueller’s return here brings him together again with Joe Sacco, the Bruins assistant coach, who was the Colorado bench boss during Mueller’s time with the Avs. Sacco said Friday that he enjoyed working with Mueller, who showed in his time in Denver that he can play effectively on either wing. Now he just has to convince coach Claude Julien & Co. that he can do the same in Boston.

“He looks good,’’ said Sacco, noting he only saw Mueller in the one-hour skate Friday at Warrior Ice Arena. “I coached him at the World Championships a couple of years ago when we were playing in Europe, and he looked like he was starting to get back to his old form. Today was only day one obviously, and he’s in the same boat as a lot of other guys — he’s being evaluated on a daily basis and hopefully he can increase his play each day as we go along here and start to ramp it up a little bit.’

Mueller, only 19 years old when he entered the NHL with Phoenix in the fall of 2007, totaled an impressive 22-32—54 in his rookie season. His production dipped the following two seasons, ultimately leading to his trade to Colorado, where he regained his hot hand (20 points in only 15 games) after the deal.

A decade after the ’06 draft, Kessel is in Pittsburgh, ready to collect his Stanley Cup ring from this past spring’s championship run with the Penguins. Lucic is back with ex-Boston GM Peter Chiarelli in Edmonton. Marchand is still here, though on loan to Team Canada at the World Cup.

Meanwhile, Mueller is here at a fancy new rink alongside the Mass Pike, hoping it’s his highway to redemption.

“I am totally OK with that,’’ he said, asked if he could embrace the idea of perhaps starting the season in Providence. “I miss being back in North Amertica. I miss playing this type of hockey. These are the leagues you want to play in, so I am fully committed. Whatever the Bruins have in store for me, I am ready.’’

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at kevin.dupont@globe.com. Follow him on Twitter @GlobeKPD.