BRIGHTON – In a bit of a stunning development for a Bruins team that has landed big prizes like Taylor Hall and Hampus Lindholm at trade deadlines in the past, and just two years ago acquired Garnet Hathaway, Dmitry Orlov and Tyler Bertuzzi in a stunning sequence, Don Sweeney essentially announced that the B’s would very likely be deadline sellers during a media availability after Sunday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena.
It comes on the heels of updates that Hampus Lindholm is “unlikely” to play again this season after fracturing his patella in November on a blocked shot, and Charlie McAvoy remaining sidelined after a surgical procedure to clear an infection out of his right shoulder suffered during the 4 Nations Face-Off.
The Bruins went out and planted a first-period dud before at least battling to get a point in a 3-2 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks on Saturday night, and provided more evidence that this edition of the Black and Gold just doesn’t have the right stuff this season.
“Historically we’ve been aggressive when our team has been in a [playoff] position, but I think this season we will take a more cautious approach as we approach the deadline,” said Sweeney to the assembled B’s media on Sunday afternoon. “That being said, if there are opportunities to improve our team now and certainly moving forward – whether that’s a positional shift where another team identifies a strength that we have – we will look at all opportunities to improve our team now, and more importantly moving forward.
“It happens at this time of year. It may plant the seeds for something that could happen at the draft and beyond, but there will be a lot of conversations asking what kind of moves that we can make. We’re just going to take a more cautious approach in terms of how aggressive we have been in the past.”
Sweeney reiterated that it’s always been his intention for captain Brad Marchand to remain with the Boston Bruins, but it sounded like some other looming free agents could be on the market with the B’s currently still sitting just one point outside a wild card playoff spot.
“That’s always been the ultimate goal when I’ve communicated with Brad throughout the year,” said Sweeney. “We’ll have to have a conversation now that the 4 Nations is over and sit down and have a clear path for the next two weeks for what his final outcome will be.”
There are multiple factors at play, of course, including a player’s individual forecast for their long-term future with the club, and what players will hold in terms of overall value ahead of next month’s trade deadline.
But a lot of this deadline’s approach and mindset, it would seem, is connected to the disappointing way this edition of the Bruins has handled the rigors of a regular season where there have been more than a few flaws in many parts of their game.
“I’m going to have to unpack a lot of where we fell short,” said Sweeney of the B’s season. “The context of our depth as it relates to Charlie [McAvoy] and Hampus going down. We obviously didn’t get off to the start that we would have liked. Joe [Sacco] took over and did a very good job in the early going and we had things going in the right direction, but then we took a turn in late January and more importantly in early February.
“We just started playing more porously than we should have as a group. We were chasing the offense a little bit and then on defense we started to give up some things, and we can’t do that as the games get tighter. We just didn’t do a good enough job collectively as a group and we started to spring some leaks. It showed up in our depth and that’s probably where the shortcomings sit right now. We’ve got some areas that we certainly need to address and that falls on me.”
The bottom line to all of this is that it sounds like Sweeney is open for business at trading some pieces and shaking up the B’s core group, and there will be very little surprise if pending UFAs like Trent Frederic and Justin Brazeau get moved ahead of the trade deadline for future picks or prospects.
Building up the B’s draft-and-development system should be one of the big priorities as they analyze what went wrong this season, gauge their own young players in terms of their respective futures in Boston and move on from some veterans that don’t figure into the organization’s long-term plan.
It sure sounds a lot like the retooling path that Cam Neely laid out for everybody a few weeks as the B’s clearly recognize some of the problematic things they’ve seen on the ice.
ONE TIMERS
*Jeremy Swayman didn’t play even a single minute for Team USA during the 4 Nations tournament, but that didn’t stop him from soaking up all the elite hockey vibes happening during the practices and the games. Perhaps his time will come next year at the Winter Olympics or the next time the 4 Nations rolls around, though Connor Hellebuyck had a pretty strong showing for the Americans while being in the prime of his NHL career.
Regardless, Swayman expected that the overall experience was just going to make him better as a player.
“A lot of late nights the last two weeks,” said Swayman with a smile on his face. “It was exactly like a playoff atmosphere and that’s what was so exciting about it. The camaraderie, fans coming from all over the world and seeing some of the best hockey in the world. It was pretty special to be a part of that.
“The group that was put together, the staff, the management and all the players. It couldn’t have been a better experience to see where USA Hockey has come. What an opportunity to be alive in this era. Let’s make some noise for USA Hockey. It takes a lot of years to develop what we have developed and now it’s our job to take it over and see it all the way through. We have a goal in mind and that’s the Olympics, and I’m going to do whatever I can to see that through and help that team win.”
*While Trent Frederic has been the most likely player to be traded by the B’s ahead of this trade deadline, Morgan Geekie could be perhaps the most coveted trade chip if the Bruins ever want to part with a restricted free agent who scored his 18th goal of the season in Saturday night’s defeat.
It would be surprising if the B’s ended up trading Geekie because he’s a restricted free agent under Bruins control, and because he’s a rugged, productive player that has demonstrated, good chemistry with David Pastrnak. And for Geekie’s part, it sounds like he doesn’t want to be anywhere but Boston.
“I want to be a Bruin. I'd love to be a Bruin as long as I can be,” said Geekie. “It's not up to me. I'm just going to go out there and play. I love every guy in here, everything about the organization.”
