The Boston Bruins enter the trade deadline this year in a position they are not used to, retooling on the fly. They are not buyers and may not be big sellers, but stuck somewhere in the middle, which is never a position that any team, in any sport, wants to be in.
Boston GM Don Sweeney had already made one trade, sending forwards Trent Frederic and Max Jones to the Edmonton Oilers on Tuesday afternoon for a pair of draft picks. The moves are not expected to stop there, but one former Black and Gold coach thinks the Bruins and Sweeney are not in a good position.
Former Bruins coach Mike Millbury thinks the organization is not in a good spot
Joining the Greg Hill Show on WEEI, former Boston coach Mike Millbury spoke on a number of topics, including the current state of the team at the trade deadline and he thinks the retool on tap is going to take some time.
“Yikes. They're not in a good position,” said Millbury. "They need talent, and they need to accumulate as many draft picks as they can. I don't know what the free-agent market looks like this summer. They took a swing and missed last year on a first- or second-line center. They will not be any good and they will not be any contending kind of team until they fill the voids at the first-line center and the second-line center position.
“I don't think they're going to be able to get that at trading deadline day. It looks to me that they would need to accumulate some draft picks if they can, wherever they can, and start to focus on that. It's not a quick turnaround. This is not a quick turnaround.”
He’s correct, this isn’t going to be an easy turnaround like the Washington Capitals went through following last season and now near the top of ther NHL standings this season. They may not even be a playoff team next year again.
It’s fair to say that the off-season was a huge swing and a miss in terms of free agent signings, headlined by Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. Granted it’s only been a year and maybe they can turn it around next year with a full off-season in Boston, but the first year wasn’t good at all.
It’s going to be very interesting to see what moves are made by 3 p.m. ET on Friday and that will give us a hint at what the future may hold, and it may not be pretty.