Since being named as general manager of the Boston Bruins, it's safe to say that it's been an up-and-down tenure. There have been some good moments, and there have been some, well, not so good moments.
Ask most Bruins fans, and you will get a different answer to which are some of his best and which are some of his worst. However, one area that most fans will agree on has been his lack of drafting. Whether it's because of the scouting staff or Sweeney himself, the lack of drafting prospects and developing them has been eye-opening.
There are a number of times where you could point the finger to say that it was a failure, but one draft takes the cake. According to Hannah Stuart of Bleacher Report, one draft takes the cake as the worst in the last 15 years.
Bruins 2015 Entry Draft listed as biggest prospects busts of the last 15 years
I think it's safe to say that a lot of Bruins fans would agree with Stuart. The 2015 Entry Draft was a complete failure in the first round with three consecutive picks. After accumulating those picks, Sweeney used them on Jakub Zbořil, Jake DeBrusk, and Zach Senyshyn. By now, you know what happened.
"The Bruins had an opportunity to pick the following players: Mathew Barzal, Kyle Conno, Thomas Chabot, Joel Eriksson Ek, and Brock Boeser, amongst others,'' wrote Stuart. "And then Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, who somehow still has that job, got up and picked Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zachary Senyshyn.
"DeBrusk, at least, is still in the NHL, currently with the Vancouver Canucks. Zboril is in the Czech Extraliga playing for HC Vítkovice, and Senyshyn is currently playing for the Schwenninger Wild Wings of the Deutsche Eishockey Liga. And look, we're all working with the benefit of hindsight here, but I could've told you, even in 2015, that picking these three while players like Barzal, Brock Boeser, Chabot, or Kyle Connor were still on the board was a terrible idea,'' Stuart added.
I know, this drum has been beaten enough already. But this is a draft that will be brought up for a long time after Sweeney's tenure is long done. It'll be brought up when and if any players who were passed are elected into the NHL Hall of Fame at some point. If just one of the players mentioned by Stuart were drafted by Sweeney that he missed, who knows what the narrative is right now? We know what the narrative is now, and it's not pretty.