Boston Bruins: Grading Don Sweeney’s Offseason
By Scott Roche
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There were plenty of options for Sweeney on both the free-agent front and in trades.
Taylor Hall was a free agent forward that the Bruins had expressed interest in, but not for the one-year, $8 million contract the Buffalo Sabers gave the former over No. 1 pick by the Edmonton Oilers in 2010.
At last year’s trade deadline, the Bruins were linked to Los Angeles Kings forward Tyler Toffoli, but he ended up getting traded to the Vancouver Canucks. A free agent in October, the Bruins kicked the tires on Toffoli, but he ended up signing a contract with the Montreal Canadiens for four years and a $4.25 million cap hit.
Also on the trade front, the Bruins were in on acquiring Arizona Coyotes veteran defensemen Oliver Ekman-Larsson, but Sweeney decided to pass on him. Another name the Bruins were reported to be asking about is Calgary Flames’ 23-year-old defenseman, Noah Hanifin. If things don’t go well on the blue line, there is the real possibility that Sweeney calls the Flames again about the Boston native.
It is clear that the Bruins really want to see what their young defensemen look like this season. Sweeney has held onto them as some could have been used as a trade chip to bring in a veteran, but it’s not to say that some won’t be moved by the April 12 trade deadline.
dark. Next. Bruins place five players on waivers
The front office hopes that Smith can help solve some of their secondary scoring issues, while bringing DeBrusk back on a bridge deal gives the Bruins a middle-six that looks better than the 70 games in 2019-20.