Boston Bruins: Don Sweeney is a contract magician
By Matt Hawkins
Boston Bruins’ general manager Don Sweeney is a magician when it comes to signing players to team-friendly contracts.
When it comes to signing players to team-friendly deals, Boston Bruins’ general manager Don Sweeney is one of the best there is.
Sweeney doesn’t just get these players signed, he gets them to sign a contract where the price is significantly under market value. It’s incredible how he’s consistently able to get top players to take team-friendly contracts.
The latest example of Sweeney’s magic was just yesterday when he was able to get restricted free agent (RFA) left wing Jake DeBrusk to take a two-year bridge deal with just a $3.675 million average annual value (AAV).
According to Evolving Hockey, DeBrusk’s value is $4.1 million.
The fact that Sweeney was able to get DeBrusk to sign at under market value while giving him just two years is surely remarkable.
Other examples of great contracts on the Boston Bruins.
Don Sweeney is responsible for the two best contracts in the entire NHL. These two contracts belong to wingers David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand, who both have cap hits under $7 million.
Since signing his six-year deal with a $6,666,667 AAV in September of 2017, Pasta has registered at least 80 points in each season and shared a Maurice “Rocket” Richard Trophy with Alex Ovechkin in 2019-20.
When you take into account how young Pastrnak was when he signed the deal and how good he already was, he probably could’ve gotten close to $10 million per year in free agency — even as an RFA.
A year before Sweeney extended Pasta, he extended Marchand to an eight-year deal with a $6.125 million AAV. Since being extended, Marchy has scored less than 85 points in a season and hit the 100-point milestone in 2018-19.
There’s no doubt that Marchand is worth much more than just $6.125 million.
Sweeney is also able to do this with players that he brings in from outside the organization. The latest example being forward Craig Smith.
Smith was signed to a three-year deal with just a $3.1 million AAV back when free agency first began in early October. Per Evolving Hockey, Smith is actually worth $4.4 million per year.
When you realize that Smith has scored at least 20 goals in five of his nine NHL seasons, you realize that Sweeney made an outstanding value signing.
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After seeing these great contracts given out by Sweeney, there’s no question how the Bruins have the best contract efficiency in the NHL (subscription required). It’s because Don Sweeney is a contract magician.