Don Sweeney has been in this position before.
Back in 2015, Sweeney was given a bump in rank to general manager — tasked with the unenviable position of trying to salvage a sinking ship after Peter Chiarelli’s poor asset management and ill-advised cap allocation wrecked a Bruins franchise that was should have been cruising towards a sustained contention window.
While a core of Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, Brad Marchand, Tuukka Rask, Torey Krug and Zdeno Chara gave Sweeney a significant headstart when it came to retooling this roster for a resurgence, hard decisions needed to be made.
Sweeney ultimately dealt franchise cogs in Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton for draft capital, setting the stage for Boston to restock its prospect pipeline right away with a loaded 2015 draft class.
(We know what happened next, of course.)
But even with that massive whiff at the 2015 draft, the Bruins managed to incorporate new blood into the lineup — be it rolling with a teenage David Pastrnak in 2014-15 or adding players like Charlie McAvoy, Brandon Carlo and Jake DeBrusk during these “bridge” years.
Now, in the summer of 2022, history seems doomed to repeat itself for Sweeney and the Bruins.
Only this time, the mess is of Sweeney’s own making — and he has considerably fewer resources at his disposal to orchestrate a quick turnaround.
The 2022-23 Bruins, as currently constituted, are looking like a complete mess.
- Brad Marchand, Matt Grzelcyk and McAvoy are all expected to miss the first few months of the new season due to offseason procedures.
- Bruce Cassidy is gone.
- Patrice Bergeron is still weighing his future after logging his 18th season in a black-and-gold sweater.
- Aside from Fabian Lysell and Mason Lohrei, Boston’s cupboard of blue-chip prospects is pretty barren.
- And with a little under $3 million in available cap space going into this offseason, the B’s have limited means to significantly improve this roster beyond moving out established NHL talent or even more draft capital.
You put all of those ominous developments together, and it’s starting to become increasingly clear.
Don Sweeney and the Bruins might be finally ready to accept a rebuild — a necessary measure that unfortunately must be taken after years of poor drafting and wasted assets.
Of course, few were expecting Sweeney to simply walk up to the podium on Tuesday morning at Warrior Ice Arena with a letter declaring a team-wide teardown and a potentially painful rebuild — much as the Rangers did in 2018.
No, Sweeney didn’t arrive at his presser in a Connor Bedard Regina Pats sweater. If you’ve listened to Sweeney’s usual musings in front of the media, he rarely offers much in terms of declarative statements and clear-cut projections.
True to form, Sweeney instead offered hints of possible initiatives that must be taken for the Bruins in 2022-23 and beyond — be it the need to inject more youth into the lineup or acknowledging the uphill climb that this team faces with guys like Marchand and McAvoy on the mend.
“In terms of how I think we are, injuries are going to be a part of that, but we’re a competitive group and we’re going to remain a competitive group, but we may need to infuse at some point in time,” Sweeney said. “We have the injuries and things that catch up to you that you just can’t get out from under, that’s a problem. And into Bergeron, as I referenced last time I was here; it could be a directional shift as well.”
If a directional shift is indeed the path that the Bruins take (a certainty if Bergeron opts to not return), moving on from a “win-now” coach in Cassidy who thrives best with a veteran-heavy room is at least a bit more digestible.
For all of the fears of the Bruins simply opting to roll with a vestige of the NHL’s old guard like Rick Bowness or even a bristly figurehead like John Tortorella, Sweeney's comments seemed to paint the picture that the franchise is looking more at younger options behind the bench, be it an assistant like Jay Leach or even a collegiate coach like a Nate Leaman.
“The coach has to have the communication skills to be able to bridge that gap with older and younger players,” Sweeney said. “I think that’s paramount now with integration. … You’ve asked me about the Lysells of the world. Only when they’re ready. I mean, David Pastrnak is a great example of that a number of years ago. We didn’t necessarily believe he was ready, but he came in and scored against Philadelphia and next thing you know, he’s in our lineup for the rest of the year and impactful moving forward.
"So, those will be the challenges that we try and find the balance of development and an infusion of talent and the new coach is going to have to be able to communicate and bridge that gap from older players, communicating with them and holding them to a standard that I think we all feel is necessary. And in this town, it is necessary to hold a team to a competitive standard. That coach has to walk that walk.”
Of course, as we noted this past weekend when weighing the risks of a full-blown rebuild, the Bruins cannot simply dip their toe in the water if their hope is to inject young talent into this core in short order.
Yes, the Bruins have a younger core to build around with guys like McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman and others.
But the Bruins, for the third time in the past five years, do not have a first-round pick at their disposal in 2022. In order to pry Hampus Lindholm out of Anaheim, Sweeney didn’t just surrender his 2022 first-rounder, but also second-round selections in 2023 and 2024.
As such, players with expiring contracts like Craig Smith, Erik Haula, Tomas Nosek and others could be on the move. The Bruins want to lock David Pastrnak into a long-term contract this summer, but if the star winger balks at the potential of a few years with a rebuilding team (or is intrigued by the payout that comes as a 2023 UFA), then tough decisions will need to be made. Perhaps other veteran stalwarts like Taylor Hall will be asked just how willing they are to stick around with a club that could be staring at some lean years ahead.
Sweeney made sure to cover all of his bases when it came to offering a flicking ember of hope that this 2022-23 roster could still be competitive — with a potential fire-sale tabled until the trade deadline.
“No. I feel that we have a very competitive team," Sweeney said. "Am I going to look to make some changes, necessary changes? Absolutely. And part of that will be the younger guys coming on board, whether they can make a difference. Maybe we get a glimpse of that with some of the injuries and rehabs we have to go through, and then we make a decision from there.”
Maybe that’s just Sweeney trying to appease an ownership group that’s weary about an inevitable rebuild.
Because at this point, it sure seems like the Bruins’ best bet toward ushing in another fruitful chapter of contention is to wave the white flag, dismantle this supporting cast and target high draft picks in the next few years in order to build around McAvoy, Swayman and Co.
The foundation of this Bruins franchise has crumbled significantly in the span of just a few days. At this stage, it’s time to officially slam this current contention window shut and look to the future.
But with Sweeney and Neely still at the helm, it’s safe to assume that the fears and concerns that have festered in the collective subconscious of Bruins fans aren’t subsiding any time soon.
“I don’t think I’ve lost faith in myself as a manager,” Sweeney said. “I don’t think our winning percentage over the last six years, seven years that I’ve been a general manager would necessarily support that. We haven’t won. That’s what supports that. And that’s why I stand up here today to try and make the necessary changes. And I will. And to answer your question, if I don’t, guess what? Somebody else will be standing up here. I referenced that with the Jacobs family and with Cam.
“One of the best parts about working for this organization is to be held to that standard, knowing that you have the full latitude to make the recommendation on decisions that you think are right. And then when they’re not, they get somebody else. That’s as categorically honest as I can possibly be. That’s as black and white as it is. To be held to that standard and to aspire to be best in class is exactly what you want to be part of. And then, when the decision is made, they just categorically make a business decision to say this is in the best interest of the Boston Bruins. And I might not be part of that.”
Here are other notes and takeaways from Sweeney’s presser:
Injuries … or something else?
As we noted in our first column from today, Sweeney didn’t exactly offer a whole lot of clarity when it came to presenting some concrete rationale for Cassidy’s canning — stressing the need for a coach that offers a different “voice”, but then pushing back on the notion that the B’s bench boss had lost in the room and had worn out his welcome to the B’s top players.
It was not the only time during his media summit in which Sweeney essentially talked in circles when it came to mapping out his logic for this drastic new direction for the franchise.
When discussing Boston’s first-round exit against the Hurricanes (a result that likely sealed Cassidy’s fate, despite Carolina’s standing as the Metro Division winner), Sweeney was quick to note that the B’s were hampered by injuries — with the loss of Hampus Lindholm and Charlie McAvoy, in particular, creating a valid “what if?” narrative in a series that ended with a one-goal loss in Game 7.
“The war of attrition is a big part of this,” Sweeney said. “Who would have thought that McAvoy and Lindholm both would have gotten injured in that first-round series? But they did. So, it does take its toll. The first year we lost our right side, so history would tell me you better be equipped on the back end when you’re going into the playoffs in order to get through. It's just seemingly where injuries amount for us. So, we have to be well-balanced to take a run. You just do.”
Yes, injuries are a certainty and expected hurdle for any team trudging through the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But if you’re going to harp on the bad luck that befell your team with injuries, wouldn’t that also absolve Cassidy of some of the blame that came with this first-round exit?
When pushed by 98.5 The Sports Hub’s Ty Anderson on the causality between Cassidy’s performance and the factors outside of his control that hampered his roster, Sweeney didn’t exactly clarify his comments.
“The margins you just referenced in the Carolina series were really small, we knew that going in," Sweeney said. "They were really small. That was a really good hockey team. It would have taken us to execute — I don’t think the depth of our lineup shone through 5-on-5 like they had for January, February, March. That’s some of the issues that reared their head at an inopportune time.
“Attrition is part of the exercise, and when you lose those players, that’s a difficult thing to overcome, as an organization and a team. That, I did not place on the head coach in terms of why they got injured or how they got injured. Just as I referenced and answered this question, and I’ll do my best to answer yours.”
So, the margins were slim in a seven-game series against a very good Hurricanes team. The Bruins were banged up — and didn’t have the necessary depth to overcome those issues.
Again … not really sure how that falls on the coach.
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Updates on Bergeron / Krejci
Sweeney noted that there is still no clarity on Patrice Bergeron’s future, which will likely stand as the main determinant in whatever course that Sweeney and this organization charts.
Bergeron, in an interview with Le Journal de Quebec, acknowledged on Tuesday that he had no say in Cassidy’s dismissal — a notion that Sweeney first expressed during his presser.
“I mean, I’ve had multiple conversations with Patrice about this organization over the course of my time here," Sweeney said. "We continue to have them. He has too much respect for Bruce or for me, or for anybody, to make recommendations about who the coach is and who he’s going to play with. Went through the same thing with Claude where he played and had a lot of success with. It’s more out of respect. In my conversations with him yesterday, I did not ask whether this impacts his decision. It’s Bergy’s decision and his timeline.”
As for any shift in discussions with David Krejci?
“No,” Sweeney noted. “I’ve had a discussion with David’s people. David has flown back to South Carolina and I expect at some point in time we’ll communicate.”
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Holding pattern with Pastrnak
Sure, Bergeron’s decision stands as the primary domino that will craft the tone and objective of this offseason.
But a conversation with David Pastrnak and the star winger’s willingness to ink a long-term extension might ultimately decide just how extreme Boston’s summer might be.
If Pastrnak plans on sticking in Boston, the Bruins will gladly hand the sniper a hefty payday and lock him in as part of this next core of talent alongside guys like McAvoy and Swayman. But if Pastrnak has any reservations about a rebuild or is intrigued about the payout he could secure as a UFA in 2023, the Bruins might have to take a long look at moving the forward in order to accelerate this roster overhaul.
As of right now, the Bruins can’t begin chatting with Pastrnak about a new contract due to the league calendar — but it’s going to be near the top of Sweeney’s to-do list in a few weeks.
“We can’t have a discussion with David until the calendar year on the 15th, but I’ve said all along that I will attack that one as I have with all of our players that we’ve looked to go longer term on right away,” Sweeney said. “We’ll see where it goes. David has a decision to make in that same vein. He might be sitting back and balancing the same way with it, whether it’s Patrice or anybody else we’re adding. Those conversations will come to light, and we’ll have to make a decision based on the information I get.”
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As for other coaches?
One interesting nugget that Sweeney shared is that assistant coach Kevin Dean was already expected to not return for 2022-23, with Cassidy making such a determination earlier this offseason.
“He had made a decision that Kevin Dean wasn’t going to be extended,” Sweeney said of Cassidy. “We had talks during the course of the year about he and Kevin and their relationship, everybody was aware that there was a little friction there at some point in time. They got past that and went back to work as both of them as professionals and I think have a long history.”
Again, it was to be expected that at least a few members of Cassidy’s staff were going to be on the outs as a result of this first-round exit. But to let Cassidy make the call to cut ties with Dean, only to then fire your head coach shortly thereafter, stands as a puzzling choice.
Sweeney did add that both Joe Sacco and Chris Kelly still remain under contract, and added that he’s had discussions with goalie coach Bob Essensa.
Quick hits
No surprise here, but Sweeney did confirm that he’s expected to be back for next season with a new contract, even if the new details have yet to be finalized. “I haven’t finalized anything,” he said. “As I referenced a number of weeks ago, I have an indication as I’ve charted a course for this organization that I’ll be back.”
Sweeney said that the Bruins have not considered using any buyouts at this time — with Nick Foligno standing as the most obvious candidate. If Boston was to buy out the final year of Foligno’s contract, they would shave close to $2 million off of their books this upcoming season, and only get dinged for a little under $1 million in a carry-over cap hit in 2023-24.
The Bruins bolstered some of their defensive depth on Tuesday by shopping overseas, with the club announcing that it signed D Kai Wissmann to a one-year entry-level contract for the 2022-23 season with an annual NHL cap hit of $825,000.
Wissmann, 25, played with Eisbären Berlin in the German Ice Hockey Federation in 2021-22, scoring four goals and recording 16 assists for 20 points with a plus-31 rating. The Villingen-Schwenningen, Germany native (the same town that Dennis Seidenberg hails from) is coming off of a strong performance at the 2022 World Championships, with the 6-foot-4 defenseman scoring two goals and five assists for seven points in eight games.