Boston Bruins: Don Sweeney Gives Bruins a Different Look

Although the much talked about trade of Loui Eriksson didn’t materialize, Boston Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney was busy on Monday, acquiring a veteran defenseman, a veteran forward, and sending three forwards down to Providence, while recalling one.

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First Sweeney picked up Lee Stempniak from New Jersey in exchange for the Bruins natural fourth-round pick in this summer’s NHL Entry Draft and the Bruins natural second-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. The team also acquired left shooting defenseman John-Michael Liles from Carolina in exchange for forward Anthony Camara, plus the Bruins natural third-round pick in the 2016 NHL Entry Draft and the Bruins natural fifth-round pick in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Sweeney also announced that the club has assigned forwards Max Talbot, Zac Rinaldo and Joonas Kemppainen to the Providence Bruins of the American Hockey League. Forward Tyler Randell was called up from Providence today as well.

For Stempniak, being dealt is nothing new. Boston will be his ninth NHL stop, and some in the game have dubbed him ‘Suitcase Stempniak.’ This is the third year in a row he has been traded, and his sixth team in three seasons. He leaves New Jersey as their leading scorer, with 16 goals and 41 points, and will probably be on the right side of the Patrice Bergeron line tomorrow night against the Calgary Flames. This move allows the bottom three lines to have more depth, and the line combinations could resemble this:

Brad Marchand–Patrice Bergeron–Lee Stempniak

Loui Eriksson–David Krejci–David Pastrnak

Matt Beleskey–Ryan Spooner–Jimmy Hayes

Brett Connolly–Landon Ferraro–Tyler Randell

In Liles, the Bruins acquire a durable 35 year old defenseman who will be a restricted free agent on July 1st. He has played in every one of the Hurricanes 64 games so far. He has played in almost 800 NHL games, with the majority of them coming in a Colorado Avalanche uniform. He has also played for the Toronto Maple Leafs and Carolina.

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One thing that both new Bruins have in common is that they are both American and both played college hockey. Liles spent four years at Michigan State University playing for coach Rick Comley. He was the MVP of the team in his senior season, 2002-03, when he not only led the team in scoring, but was the nation’s top scoring blueliner, averaging 1.28 points per game. He is still the all-time leader in goals scored by a defenseman in Spartan’s history with 44 in his 4 years.

For Stempniak, he played his college hockey at Dartmouth under coach Bob Gaudet, from 2001-05. In his four years in Hanover, New Hampshire, Stempniak suited up in 135 games, the second-highest total in the program’s 107-year history. His 135 points rank fourth all-time, while his 88 assists are the third-highest total for any Big Green player. Stempniak also registered 63 goals in a Dartmouth sweater, the 10th-best figure all-time. Anyone who know him professes that his work ethic is second to none.

Next: Bruins Finally Land Stempniak

Although Don Sweeney didn’t make any major moves, he did his share on Monday. Now it is up to the twenty players on the ice to do their job and finish the regular season strong, and try to hit the playoffs with momentum.

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