Boston is struggling under GM Don Sweeney. They own a record of 25-21-6 (56 points) and are 4-4-2 in their last 10 games. It’s time for the B’s to shake up the front office and bring in a new General Manager.
The Boston Bruins were one of the NHL’s elite team’s not so very long ago and that culminated in the franchise’s first Stanley Cup since the 70’s in 2011. Now, after back-to-back seasons without a playoff berth, the Bruins need to make a decision on their future.
They need to seek new management.
The Bruins may currently find themselves in a playoff spot and in third place in the Atlantic division with a 25-21-6 record, but look a little closer and you’ll realize things aren’t quite as they seem.
The Bruins only have one point on the Toronto Maple Leafs, and the Leafs have five games in hand.
The Bruins have seen most of their veteran players take significant steps back in production, with only Brad Marchand leading the offense. The “D” core is led by the aging Zdeno Chara and is filled out mainly by bottom pairing stay-at-home defensemen.
Tuukka Rask is an NHL All-Star caliber goaltender, but behind him, it is incredibly thin.
How did everything go so wrong so fast? Well, I for one would put most of the blame on current GM Don Sweeney.
BRUINS SHOULD HAVE KEPT CHIARELLI
Former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli made his share of bad deals (trading Seguin for much less than market value), but he did deliver a championship to the franchise and kept the team very competitive.
In Chiarelli’s last season as general manager, he had to deal with a salary cap that was choking his club.
Jan 8, 2017; Raleigh, NC, USA; Boston Bruins forward David Krejci (46) watches the play against the Carolina Hurricanes at PNC Arena. The Carolina Hurricanes defeated the Boston Bruins 4-3. Mandatory Credit: James Guillory-USA TODAY Sports
Chiarelli had recently signed David Krejci to a six-year deal that saw a large raise come to his top center, and he did a nice job of keeping Reilly Smith and Torey Krug with small $1.4 million salaries.
Chiarelli had to let go of Jarome Iginla, Chad Johnson and Shawn Thornton in free agency and could only replace them from within the organization.
Even with all that money being budgeted, Chiarelli ended up having to trade top-four defenseman Johnny Boychuk to the Islanders for draft picks.
The Bruins were in the hunt for their division lead throughout most of the season, but a David Krejci injury and bad luck saw the Bruins fall out of playoffs by season’s end. Chiarelli was fired not long after the season ended.
Enter Don Sweeney.
Don Sweeney had been a part of the Bruins organization as a team executive since 2006. He knew the franchise inside and out and seemed like an admirable replacement for Chiarelli.
Sweeney knew the team needed a change, but he made mistakes almost immediately out of the gate.
During the 2015 NHL Entry Draft, Sweeney made his first big move, trading restricted defenseman Dougie Hamilton for a 1st round pick and two 2nd round picks. This wasn’t a bad deal, but it was rumored that the Edmonton Oilers (who had recently hired former Bruins GM Peter Chiarelli) offered a higher pick package and Sweeney turned them down due to a personal feud with Chiarelli.
Every GM knows that you can’t hold grudges and it’s likely a better idea to get the most value for any player you trade.
Sweeney added more picks by dealing fan favorite Milan Lucic and acquiring goaltender Martin Jones in the process. Jones was subsequently traded four days later to the San Jose Sharks for yet another first round pick.
On draft day, many believed Don Sweeney had acquired all these draft picks to make an even bigger deal. Instead, Sweeney made his selections in unison.
Sweeney picked Jakub Zboril at 13, Jake DeBrusk at 14 and Zachary Senyshyn at 15. Both DeBrusk and Senyshyn were not expected to be selected that early making these trades even more of a head-scratcher.
Don Sweeney wasn’t done there.
Sweeney traded Reilly Smith, a young roster player acquired in the Tyler Seguin deal in exchange for Jimmy Hayes. Smith had just completed his second season with the Bruins and put up years of 51 and 40 points when he was dealt. Hayes had just come off a 19-goal 35-point season with the Panthers.
Today, Smith is still a consistent secondary scorer and Jimmy Hayes has completely bottomed out as an effective NHL player.
THROWING CAP SPACE AWAY
While Sweeney did a great job clearing out cap space for a team that had historically been cash-strapped, he hasn’t done much with the money he cleared.
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Sweeney awarded bottom-pairing stay-at-home defensemen Adam McQuiad and Kevan Miller with long-term contracts instead of doing all he could to keep Dougie Hamilton.
In today’s NHL, the McQuiad’s and Miller’s are dying breeds while the Hamilton’s are the most sought after.
Matt Beleskey was given a five-year deal and he was expected to take Milan Lucic’s spot in the lineup. While his 37 points weren’t a complete disappointment, his six points in 28 games so far this season do not inspire much confidence.
Sweeney will likely also rue the day he signed veteran David Backes to a five-year deal worth $6 million per and his newly signed backup in Anton Khudobin (2 years for $2.4 million) didn’t pan out as well.
The core is aging. The young players are not impact players.
It’s plain and simple; the Bruins are not going to be a good team for a few more years. It’s up to them to decide if they want to be like the Carolina Hurricanes or if they want to be like the Toronto Maple Leafs.
A GM is normally judged on his wins and losses on all of his management decisions. Here’s Sweeney’s score card.
Not firing Claude Julien: Win
Trading Dougie Hamilton: Loss
Not trading Hamilton for best offer: Loss
Trading Milan Lucic: Win
Trading Martin Jones: Loss
Trading Smith for Hayes: Loss
Signing Matt Beleskey: Loss
Extending Adam McQuaid: Loss
Extending Kevan Miller: Loss
Losing Loui Eriksson for nothing: Loss
Buying out Dennis Seidenberg: Loss
Signing Anton Khudobin: Loss
Signing David Backes: Loss
Not a very good track record at all.
Don Sweeney, to quote Mike Commodore’s wonderful twitter this team of year #PackYourSh*t
