Bruins GM Don Sweeney provides brief glimpse into trade deadline plans
Locally, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney has not been heard from since his press conference following the firing of then-head coach Jim Montgomery back in November.
But nationally, Sweeney has made his rounds as the general manager of Team Canada for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off, and even did an in-game interview with the TNT broadcast team during Wednesday night’s showdown between the Bruins and Rangers at Madison Square Garden. And though nine of the 10 questions thrown Sweeney’s way were related to Team Canada and the upcoming tournament, Brian Boucher was able to toss one Bruins-centric question Sweeney’s way regarding the potential plans for a Black and Gold club that’s currently on the outside looking in in the Eastern Conference playoff race.
“It’s been a little unique for us this year getting out of the gate not as fast as we would’ve liked [so] we’re In the middle of things,” Sweeney, whose team currently sits in ninth place, acknowledged. “It’s a tough exercise to sort of play both sides of the street, but that’s almost year what a general manager is required to do, to test what’s out there, what’s available, and how you can improve, hopefully.
“We have some areas we would like to [improve], but we have to keep an eye.”
This is basically a variation of B’s president Cam Neely’s ‘preparing for two paths’ comments last month, and they could arguably hold more weight now given the B’s 5-4-1 record since those remarks.
But for Sweeney, it’s clear that he’s not ready to throw the towel in on the season, especially with the B’s top left-side defenseman (Hampus Lindholm) out for the majority of the season to date.
“We’ve missed Hampus Lindholm all year [or] at least the last 40 games, and it’s affected our group,” said Sweeney. “But everybody goes through injuries. You gotta battle through it, gotta find a way to while I’m out there trying to improve our club. If we have more injuries or we don’t do the job between now and the deadline, we may have to take a different path.”
The problem for the Bruins is that the math is certainly working against ’em to this point, with a games played disadvantage against every single team they’re chasing or being chased by. The Bruins have also found themselves unable to capitalize on nights where those clubs lose with a win of their own on a relatively consistent basis, while the same old problems continue to creep into Boston’s game just when you find yourself ready to put even an ounce of believability into this club.
If the Bruins choose to venture down a seller’s path, all eyes will be on what the Bruins do with team captain and pending unrestricted free agent Brad Marchand. But the Bruins will have other potential assets to move in fellow pending UFAs Justin Brazeau and Trent Frederic, along with pending restricted free agent Morgan Geekie. Depending on their level of selling, the Bruins could also attempt to gauge the market on this-year-and-next ‘rentals’ like middle-six forward Charlie Coyle and defenseman Andrew Peeke and see if there’s a deal that makes sense from a maximum value standpoint.
The Bruins, who lost by a 3-2 final to the Rangers on Wednesday night, currently have a 70 percent chance of missing the 2025 postseason, according to PlayoffStatus.com.
That number alone may point towards the club’s inevitable move towards ‘selling’ by the Mar. 7 trade deadline. But the B’s will have more time to truly find out where they stand in the East’s jam-packed playoff race, with another eight games on the schedule before deadline day.
