There will always be a faction in any teams’ fan base that will hate their general manager on a visceral level. Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney is no exception. There are fans that are incensed that Sweeney traded away their favorite player. Some people are still angry over moves that caused players like Milan Lucic, Reilly Smith, and even Gregory Campbell to end up on another team.
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Hockey is a business, and that means players will go where the money is, or where the opportunities are. Lucic gets to play on a strong Western Conference team for a year, and he might help strengthen their top line. Campbell gets a new start in Columbus, where the Blue Jackets could use a veteran bottom-six forward. Reilly Smith joins a few other former Bruins in Sunrise (making me wonder if the Panthers are our new go-to trade/move team).
For the most part, Don Sweeney has done a rather remarkable job fixing the problems handed to him by his predecessor, Peter Chiarelli. The Bruins had been trapped in an unworkable salary cap situation due to a lot of long-term, no-move contracts put together by Chiarelli. Those contracts had to be handed out because the Bruins had had several bad seasons when it came to talent development and draft picks. (Dougie Hamilton (also moved) and David Pastrnak were the standout exceptions.)
Puck Prose
Sweeney had no choices to swing for the fences. He got something for nothing out of the Carl Soderberg deal with the Avalanche. He got solid value for Dougie Hamilton and an excellent turn on the Milan Lucic deal. While we were hoping for something more out of the Bruins three first-round draft picks, Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zachary Senyshyn had impressive showings in their first Bruins development camp.
There are only two black marks on Sweeney’s first offseason. The hiring of Zac Rinaldo as a Shawn Thornton substitute and not finding a top-four defenseman. Rinaldo brings a LOT of time in the penalty box, and that’s the last thing the B’s need going forward. Rinaldo met with the media yesterday and he’s committed to changing his image for the better while he’s in Boston. (For what it’s worth, it worked for Brad Marchand.)
The Bruins organization is still looking for a top-four defenseman. They are reportedly in the running to pick up free agent Cody Franson, With only $4.7 million left in cap space, the Bruins may have to make one more move to secure his services.
If we had to grade Don Sweeney’s first few weeks in office, it would be safe to give him a “B”.