Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney was wheeling and dealing in the final hour of the trade deadline and moved some key pieces. Moving key players both on the ice and in the locker room was not surprising when all is said and done.
Two weeks ago, Sweeney had hinted at the possibility that he was going to take a "cautious approach", however, his team's play out of the 4 Nations Face-Off break said otherwise. They fell further down the Eastern Conference standings and despite being within striking distance of the second wild card spot, it's a huge mountain to climb.
Sweeney took advantage of the sellers market and moved Brad Marchand, Brandon Carlo and Charlie Coyle to contending teams, but in the case of Marchand and Carlo, they were moved to Atlantic Division rivals, the Florida Panthers and Toronto Maple Leafs respectively. Coyle was traded to the Colorado Avalanche.
This was certainly a seller's market and Sweeney felt the need to strike and strike he did. From Colorado, the Bruins got Casey Mittlestadt, who has the potential to be a nice piece of the roster, as a forward. Jakub Lauko was acquired from the Minnesota Wild in a deal on Thursday night that sent Justin Brazeau to the Minnesota Wild. Also coming back was youngster Marat Khustnidinov who is an interesting player to watch over the rest of the season.
Sweeney also got some draft capital, but the return for Marchand is not what anyone expected, and it felt like a deal at the time that was a last-second deal, and the news from Elliotte Friedman suggests that. In all honesty, whatever the rift between Marchand and the front office is, it would have been worth keeping him, and risk losing him for nothing rather than getting a return that Sweeney might not even he here to make a pick with.
Grading Don Sweeney's 2025 trade deadline
In the overall big picture, it was a move that needed to be made by Sweeney. Sell and begin the retool that has been ignored before was needed. On Saturday, they went out and shutout the Tampa Bay Lightning, 4-0, in what was one of their more impressive wins of the season, following the deadline.