The Boston Bruins are an organization that other teams should be modeling themselves after. The team has been a contender for the better part of two decades, and even when it looks like they're going to take a step back and go into a longer retool, they return to the cusp of a playoff spot the following season. Some fans don't want to give Don Sweeney credit for his work, but it sounds like the Toronto Maple Leafs would sure like a general manager like him.
The Maple Leafs are in a similar position to the Bruins last season. They are near the bottom of the league, which is a near-necessity over the final week of the season, as the Bruins actually hold their top-five-protected first-round pick. If the Leafs fall out of the bottom five and don't win the lottery, they'll gift the Bruins a substantial addition to their prospect pool.
Despite the uncertainty of the Maple Leafs' future, the organization looks at the Bruins as a role model, or an older brother, if you will. They believe that if Boston can turn it around in one season, then so can we, according to Elliotte Friedman via the 32 Thoughts Podcast.
"I've heard Boston has come up a lot in Toronto this year; and how they came back so quickly, and they're saying how can we do that too; the organization looks at it like if they can do it, why can't we."Elliotte Friedman
One suggestion I would make to the Maple Leafs is to try to find a team that will gift you a first-round pick, a potential top-six center prospect, and a throwaway fourth-round pick for a defenseman who has been hampered by injuries and plays a little on the soft side. If Toronto finds an opposing general manager open to making that deal, that would go a long way to kick-starting the rebuild. Maybe it's a good thing they fired Brad Treliving, in hopes that he could potentially find work elsewhere.
The Leafs might've also missed the chance to kickstart the rebuild by failing to get value for their UFAs at the trade deadline. The Bruins made some great moves by trading their veterans at last year's deadline, and didn't settle for a second and third round picks in return. Toronto did make some deals at this year's trade deadline, but the returns were subpar at best.
The Bruins also had a solid core of players to build around that haven't won a championship yet, but have proven they can step it up for the team in the playoffs. When you have that kind of core, it's easy to trust your team to do a quick rebuild and surround them with playoff-type players.
The Maple Leafs could try to do something similar next season with Auston Matthews and William Nylander. Still, I think I've seen David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy persevere in playoff series against those players enough to know who I'd rather be going to battle with.
It's nice of the Maple Leafs to want to model their impending rebuild on the team that has driven them crazy throughout the Matthews and Nylander era. In theory, it's a good idea. However, if you don't have the roster pieces or the brain trust to pull off the Sweeney retool, then it's likely all a moot point.