Boston Bruins: Don Sweeney deserved General Manager of the Year

At the NHL Awards night, Boston Bruins’ General Manager, Don Sweeney scooped the accolade of being named the NHL’s General Manager of the Year. We think it was a well-deserved title.

Whilst, he, like all General Managers has been questioned by the Boston Bruins fanbase at times, Don Sweeney ultimately led this team to within a whisker of the Stanley Cup this season. That, having started the year ranked in the middle pack of the Atlantic Division – still an ever-present threat but not a team expected to have the impact of a Tampa Bay Lighting or Toronto Maple Leafs.

By the end of the season, the Boston Bruins had seen off one of those favourites, after finishing second in the division and had someone else do the dirty work on Tampa before eliminating them (thanks Columbus!).

Don Sweeney made deals this year that already look a bit questionable, like the deal that he signed John Moore to. However, he did also pick up Jaroslav Halak and Joakim Nordstrom on good-value contracts; both played their role in the team’s successes this year.

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The Charlie Coyle deal, in it’s immediacy, wasn’t viewed too favourably by the Boston Bruins fanbase, feeling that the General Manager had given up on the young talent of Ryan Donato. This would only go on to be extenuated by the fact Donato suddenly found form with the Minnesota Wild whilst Coyle floundered somewhat.

However, by the end of the play-off run, it’s safe to say that Charlie Coyle has won considerable favour with the Boston Bruins’ faithful, and thus it’s rubbed off on Don Sweeney.

The deal to bring Marcus Johansson over cost a bit, surrendering this year’s second round draft pick for a player that was essentially a rental, but again, without Johansson showing up in the play-off run, the Boston Bruins likely don’t have a Stanley Cup Final to play in at all. Don Sweeney could really win people over if he can somehow find a way to renew Johansson without losing any impact player this summer.

All in all, the year hasn’t been an easy one if you’re the General Manager of the Boston Bruins. On countless occasions, Don Sweeney has been forced to adopt a ‘next man up’ policy due to countless injuries to his best roster. Whilst these promotions haven’t been flawless and a lot relies upon how the player is utilised and how much they want it; there’s been successes here too – look at Connor Clifton as the best example.

Now, you could look at Don Sweeney’s year and say a lot of it is luck, a lot of it relies upon the players at his disposal or that General Managers have limited impact, but the sheer fact his peers view him as more successful than a General Manager that resisted the fire-sale urge in 31st place at the start of the year and then won a Stanley Cup, shows that he’s been doing something right.

It’s nice to see someone associated with the Boston Bruins scooping some silverware, obviously it’s not the one we all wanted, but for now, Don Sweeney has to get wheeling-and-dealing and win us over for the next season.

You’re only as good as your last memorable move, after all.