Don Sweeney’s stock is at an all-time high right now, with Boston’s GM coming off of a landmark week in which he managed to ink RFAs in Charlie McAvoy and Brandon Carlo to new contracts with a combined cap hit of $7.7 million.
While Sweeney has taken some flak for moves in the early stages of his tenure as GM, one can’t deny that the man running the Bruins’ hockey operations has also played a key role in keeping his club’s current championship window open for the foreseeable future.
Here’s a look at the top-five contacts signings (both free agent and extensions) inked by the Bruins during Sweeney’s first four seasons at the helm of the franchise.
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Tim Schaller (1 year, $775,000 in 2017-18)
You very well could have slotted in a number of different players in this spot, because Sweeney has often hit the jackpot on bottom-six forwards time and time again over the last few years — both in terms of production and especially in value.
While the likes of Dominic Moore (1 year, $900,000 in 2016-17), Joakim Nordstrom (2 years, $2 million) and Chris Wagner (2 years, $2.5 million) were all very deserving, Sweeney got plenty of bang for his buck when he signed New Hampshire native Tim Schaller to a one-year, $600,000 contract in 2016-17.
Schaller, who spent a majority of the previous season down with the Sabres’ AHL affiliate, quickly became a key cog on Boston’s fourth line — tallying seven goals and 14 points over 59 games played. For his efforts, he received a slight pay bump, signing a one-year, $775,000 contract with Boston for the 2017-18 season.
Schaller thrived in his second go-around with the Bruins, scoring 12 goals and posting 22 points while playing in all 82 games. Despite having just 36.18% of his face-offs come in the offensive zone, Schaller was still out on the ice for 172 high-danger scoring chances in favor of Boston, while the opposition generated 135 during that same stretch (906:12 5v5 TOI).
Schaller quickly cashed in that summer with a two-year, $3.8 million deal with the Canucks, but given Sweeney’s track record, Boston’s bottom-six should continue to be replenished as the club continues to hit on more and more low-cost, high-reward talent.
Connor Clifton & Karson Kuhlman (2 years, $1.45 million in 2018-20 & 2 years, $1.525 million in 2018-20)
The Bruins have found plenty of success over the last couple of years when it comes to identifying talent in the NCAA, both drafted and undrafted.
Credit to the Bruins for striking quick after Clifton (originally drafted by the Coyotes in 2013) opted to not sign with the club after his career at Quinnipiac came to a close. While his first deal was a simple AHL contract in 2017-18 — the promise that the dynamic defenseman showed down in Providence paved the way for a two-year, $1.45 million contract in May 2018.
While few expected Clifton to contend for a legitimate spot on the NHL roster last September, the New Jersey native impressed both during the regular season and postseason when injuries decimated the blue line.
Among B’s skaters that logged at least 50 minutes of 5v5 TOI during the regular season, Clifton ranked second overall and first among defenseman when it came to goals against per 60 minutes of play at 0.95 — with Boston only relinquishing five 5v5 goals in the 317 minutes of ice time that Clifton skated out for.
In the playoffs, Clifton primarily played alongside Matt Grzelcyk on Boston’s third D pairing, with Boston controlling 58.56% of shot attempts and holding a plus-14 shot differential when the pair was used over the span of 100:09 of 5v5 TOI.
When split up from Grzelcyk, Clifton still impressed alongside various other D partners — with Boston holding a 5-1 edge in 5v5 goals in the remaining 124:07 of TOI that Clifton logged during Boston’s run to the Cup Final.
A great addition to an already loaded D corps going forward, Sweeney deserves kudos as well for signing Clifton to a three-year, $3 million contract in July that won’t even begin to take effect until the 2020-21 season.
Kuhlman, an undrafted free agent out of Minnesota Duluth, could also see his stock rise significantly after he burst onto the scene in 2018-19. While most expected Kuhlman to primarily serve as a depth/bottom-six piece on an NHL club, the 23-year-old winger seems to be the early favorite to skate on a top-six line with David Krejci and Jake DeBrusk. Given that that trio generated a 7.00 goals for per 60 minutes rate last season (far and away the best on the team), you certainly can’t argue with his spot in the lineup. And for just $750,000 this season? What a steal.
Brandon Carlo (2 years, $5.7 million in 2019-21)
While the ideal situation would have had Carlo inked to a longer-term contract, the Bruins have to be thrilled that their top-four pairing, 22-year-old defenseman is only going to cost them $2.85 million in cap space for each of the next two seasons.
We touched on this a bit earlier this week, but even if blueliners with not much in terms of offensive upside rarely break the bank, Carlo still seems to be criminally underpaid when looking at what his presence brings a team in its own zone.
Among the 87 NHL defenseman that logged 1,200 5v5 minutes last year, Carlo ranked:
Eighth overall in 5v5 shots against per 60 minutes (27.38).
Fourth overall in 5v5 shot attempts against per 60 minutes (49.17).
First overall in 5v5 goals against per 60 minutes (1.48).
That’s some impressive stuff from a 22-year-old defenseman that’s only going to get much, much better going forward.
5. Riley Nash (2 years, $1.8 million in 2016-18)
Nash was already going to be a great deal based on his play in his first year in Boston — logging 81 games played and tallying 17 points in a bottom-six role while only counting $900,000 against the cap.
But the following year made him one of the top steals in the league, as Nash tallied 15 goals and 41 total points over 76 games — while primarily anchoring a third line featuring David Backes and Danton Heinen.
While that third line contributed 14 5v5 goals over 331 minutes of TOI together, Nash also excelled when asked to slot up to the top-line pivot when Patrice Bergeron was sidelined due to injury. In 165 minutes of 5v5 TOI, a line of Marchand-Nash-Pastrnak still controlled a 55.25% shot share while outscoring the opposition, 12-4.
Simply put, Nash was Boston’s Swiss Army Knife in 2017-18, and he thrived in just about every spot that Bruce Cassidy needed him to shore up across Boston’s lineup.
4. Jaroslav Halak (2 years, $5.5 million in 2018-20)
He may not have appeared in a single playoff game for the Bruins last season, but Halak’s play in net might have been one of the key reasons as to why Boston was able to make it all the way to Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final.
Brought in to serve as backup to Tuukka Rask and cut into the netminder’s heavy workload, Halak kept Boston afloat when Rask struggled out of the gate, posting a 6-1-2 record with a .945 save percentage and two shutouts in his first 11 appearances.
By the time the playoffs began, Halak’s run in net gave Boston the luxury of limiting Rask to just 45 games played during the regular season — ranking as his fewest since the lockout-shortened 2012-13 season (36 games played) and the least since becoming a full-time starter with the Bruins.
The added rest clearly benefited Rask and the Bruins — as the netminder seemed to have a Conn Smythe Trophy all but locked up going into Game 7 of the Cup Final, posting a .934 save percentage and two shutouts over 24 playoff outings.
Halak will once again be tasked with limiting Rask’s workload in 2019-20, and for just $2.75 million this season, that stands as a great coup for Boston as it looks to once again benefit from a 1A/1B rotation in net.
Charlie McAvoy (3 years, $14.7 million in 2019-22)
Whichever way you want to look at this contract, the Bruins have to be thrilled with the end result, even if McAvoy will be looking for a much higher pay raise in 2022.
In terms of the cap, McAvoy is going to be compensated well below his overall value for the next three seasons — especially as he continues to develop into a potential franchise defenseman in short order.
There’s plenty of signs that point to McAvoy’s sky-high potential. During a 2018-19 season in which he averaged 22:10 of ice time, McAvoy’s 5v5 primary points (goals and primary assists) per 60 minutes rate of 0.92 ranked ninth overall among all NHL defensemen last season (min. 500 5v5 minutes played) — trailing only Kris Letang, Morgan Rielly, Tyson Barrie, Brent Burns, Mark Giordano, Shea Weber, Vince Dunn and John Carlson.
Add in that McAvoy ranked in the 90th percentile of skaters in terms of possession entry percentage allowed in the D zone and signaled sizable shifts in terms of shot rates on both ends of the ice — and you have a potential monster on your blue line.
And he’s only going to cost you $14.7 million total for the next three seasons.
2. Brad Marchand (8 years, $49 million in 2017-25)
The Bruins really lucked out that Marchand didn’t fully emerge as one of the premier wingers in the entire NHL until after he inked this steal of a deal for Sweeney and Co., but the signs were certainly there.
After all, Marchand was coming off of a 2015-16 campaign in which he tallied 37 goals, and dominated during the World Cup of Hockey just prior to signing a massive eight-year deal that didn’t even kick in until the following season.
Since signing that contract, Marchand has racked up a casual 109 goals and 270 total points over three seasons — culminating in the winger becoming the first Bruins player since Joe Thornton (2002-03) to break the 100-point plateau in a single season.
While Marchand’s play could dip by the tail end of this contract in 2024-25, Sweeney deserves plenty of credit for signing Marchand all the way through his prime seasons, for just $6.125 million per year.
Add in the fact that a line of Marchand-Bergeron-Pastrnak is projected to generate a full-season WAR of 12.1 next season, and Sweeney absolutely hit a home run with this deal.
Speaking of Pastrnak...
1. David Pastrnak (6 years, $40 million in 2017-23)
The writing seemed to be on the wall that a painful cap crunch was going to be at hand if Boston wanted to pay up within market value on David Pastrnak’s new contract — especially with the sniper coming off of a 34-goal, 70-point campaign at just 20 years old.
Just a month before Pastrnak came to terms on a new deal, Leon Draisaitl appeared to set the market — inking an 8-year extension with the Oilers for $8.5 million per year. Given the similarities in age and production (Draisaitl had 29 goals and 77 points in 2016-17), one had to think that Pastrnak was going to command a similar deal, right?
Noooooooope.
Signing a six-year deal in September 2017 with a cap hit of just $6.66 million per season, Pastrnak has provided absurd value for a Bruins club that has been able to keep its Cup contention window alive thanks to Sweeney’s ability to retain its core group of players and remain out of cap hell.
Since signing that contract, Pastrnak has been one of the most effective goal scorers in the NHL, averaging 36.5 goals and 80.5 points over each of the following two seasons. The 23-year-old forward was on pace to tally 47 goals and post 101 points last season before a thumb injury put him on the shelf for 16 games.
Now healthy and with another year of experience under his belt, expect Pastrnak to potentially flirt with 50 goals if he’s able to stay on the ice this year. And next year. And the year after.
Straight highway robbery by Sweeney here.
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Forwards: Anders Bjork, Par Lindholm, Brett Ritchie, Jakub Lauko, Trent Frederic, Karson Kuhlman, Paul Carey, Oskar Steen, Ryan Fitzgerald, Brendan Gaunce, Pavel Shen, Peter Cehlarik, Samuel Asselin
Defensemen: Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo, Matt Grzelcyk, Steven Kampfer, Jakub Zboril, Wiley Sherman, Cooper Zech
Goaltenders: Maxime Lagace, Kyle Keyser, Dan Vladar
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Auston Matthews trying to figure out who this guy is pic.twitter.com/CyMZWhowja
— Brady Trettenero (@BradyTrett) September 19, 2019