On Wednesday afternoon, the Boston Bruins leadership of Charlie Jacobs, Cam Neely, and Don Sweeney met with the media five days after their team was bounced from the Stanley Cup Playoffs in six games by the Buffalo Sabres.
Let's be honest, the end-of-the-season media availability is one where management-speak comes out a lot. You know, like coach-speak? That was the case at the TD Garden on Wednesday.
The trio touched on several topics, including their pending unrestricted free agents. The two names that are the biggest are Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke. Both could have been traded at the deadline in March, but Sweeney held onto both of them.
That leaves a lot of questions going into the offseason, and Sweeney was non-committal on whether either one would be back. While that's fine, let's be honest, Boston needs to cut ties with one of them this summer. I think fans know which one that needs to be.
Bruins GM Don Sweeney discusses pending free agency for Andrew Peeke and Viktor Arvidsson
When it came to Peeke and Arvidsson's pending free agency, Sweeney said, "We'll explore whether we can bring either or both back.''
Here ya go Donny, the answer is simple with Peeke, he needs to find a new home in free agency this summer. He was good when he first came over the Columbus Blue Jackets; however, there needs to be an upgrade this summer on the blueline, especially with a right-shot, and Peeke is not the answer.
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Sweeney has a logjam of defenseman who were not good enough at the time to crack the lineup, both late in the regular season and the playoffs. Henri Jokiharju is someone who struggled, but he's locked up for two more years with a $3 million AAV. Yikes. There are questions about Mason Lohrei. Heck, there are questions about a lot of them.
Boston needs to add a right-shot defenseman this summer, either through free agency or a trade, but let's be honest, Peeke isn't the answer. If he is, expect more of the same in 2026-27, and well, that would not be good enough to make the postseason for a second straight season.
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