General manager Don Sweeney got more time to fix the Bruins. Will he make good with it?

Boston Globe

4 days ago

'This will be Neely's undoing.'
'Just dumb.'
'Unfortunately, neither of them is going anywhere in the near future.'
Full disclosure, the second posting submitted was deemed just a little too rough around the adjectives, forcing Globe censors to block it. For others,
Oh, it's summertime, and the living in the Hub of Hockey is anything but easy.
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The paramount point to keep in mind about Sweeney's new deal: Neely and Sweeney are going over their list, and going over it again, in their search for a new coach. A GM working on an expiring contract would require Super Slick Salesman of the Decade status to pull a new bench boss in off the street and convince him to sign on the dotted line for, say, 3-5 years.
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Any prospective new guy worth his white socks and waffle-soled shoes would be wont to say, 'Right, so, uh, you'll show me how to shut down the Zamboni when you get marched out of the Garden in March?'
Sweeney now has two more years of pay to pocket and, more important in this moment of Bruins business, two added years of job security as a tool that will help him encourage someone to take over his bench. We know that new guy won't be
Mike Sullivan
(
Joel Quenneville
(
Rick Tocchet
(
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It's a Bruins bench, by the way, that lacks a captain, and one that remains in dire need of Sweeney adding 2-3 legit scorers to the top-six forward group for the Bruins to get back in the Stanley Cup-dreaming biz.
Related
:
A true power-play QB would help, too, though that job has been a work in progress as far back as when then-coach
Claude Julien
took the big heater out of
Zdeno Chara's
hands. That was (checks notes) 10 years ago, when Sweeney took office. It takes time to find the right guy.
If Sweeney makes it through the extension — and succeeds in withstanding the fandom's wrath — he will have completed 13 years on the job, dating to 2015. He'll also be on the verge of his 62nd birthday, as well as some 44 years removed from the 1984 draft, when the Bruins culled him out of the eighth round, pick No. 166.
If the Bruins during Sweeney's decision-making tenure routinely, or even occasionally, unearthed such gems hidden so late in the draft, oh how different might the narrative be pertaining to his front office legacy.
A decade into Sweeney's shot-calling tour, the draft, the draft, the draft remains the biggest smudge on his curriculum vitae, and the one that ultimately could bump him off the job in these next 36 months. Which is to say, in part, he needs to make a score with
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It's been a rough couple of years for the Bruins front office.
Barry Chin/Globe Staff
Is it practical or reasonable to think that yet-to-be-identified 18-year-old will be a substantive contributor on the Bruins varsity roster prior to Sweeney's contract expiration date in 2028? Not really. It's possible, in a 50-50 coin flip kinda way. Better is the chance that the player will need at least two years of development at some level (be it college, junior, minor pro, or Europe) before he begins to make NHL hay at age 20, 21, or older.
Far more relevant to Sweeney's immediate future as clerk of the works is that coaching decision, along with how he builds out the roster this summer — be it by trades and/or free agency. Those are the underlying factors that will determine his success and, most likely, his legacy.
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:
The bigger surprise Tuesday, by the view here from high up in the courtside ref's chair, was the degree of negative fan reaction over the extension. Really, folks, what were you thinking? What did you think was going to happen?
CEO
Charlie Jacobs
and Neely, in the
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Because, though left unsaid, Jacobs, Neely, and Sweeney himself were then, and are now, well aware that it's going to take a year, two, or three or more to haul this derailed freight train out of the deep ditch and get it back rolling down the track.
Again, the coach is nonexistent. The player talent is too spotty, uneven. The fan base is frayed, their loyalty worn thinner than their wallets, which they've been asked to open wider yet again to cover the average 13 percent
Once the decision was made to retain Sweeney as Mr. Fix-It, the extension was a fait accompli. It was formalized Tuesday in order to get him out there and nail down a coach, and then to convince free agents, mulling packages worth in the tens of millions of dollars, that Boston is the place to play, raise families, maybe win the Stanley Cup.
They already gave Sweeney the job, and assured everyone he was their guy. They had no choice but to put him in position to make good.
MULCHED AGAIN
Treliving could be bold after latest Leafs crash
What do the Maple Leafs do now?
Nathan Denette/Associated Press
Florida Panthers left wing Jonah Gadjovich (12) celebrates after his goal with teammates as Toronto Maple Leafs goaltender Joseph Woll (60) and others look on during the second period of Game 7 of a second-round NHL hockey playoff series in Toronto, Sunday, May 18, 2025. (Chris Young/The Canadian Press via AP)
Chris Young/Associated Press
Where now and what now for Toronto after
It dropped the Leafs to 16-4 when opening a best-of-seven series with a 2-0 lead, but the subtext was more vexing. Until this spring, they were 11-0 when opening a best-of-seven with two wins on home ice. They went from a slam dunk to the dunk tank.
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Shanahan won't be replaced at the top of the Leafs' masthead. It's now up to GM
Brad Treliving
to go it alone. Maybe that's a good thing.
Now comes a summer of agonizing Blue-and-White reappraisal, led by what to do about flashy winger
Mitch Marner
, who is poised to become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Minimum asking price: $12 million a year, for a deal that can be no longer than seven years if he signs with anyone else in the Original 32. If he stays put, the Leafs can add an eighth.
Amid Sunday's meltdown, TV cameras caught Marner imploring teammates to find another gear. None of them, including Marner, could find it — manual shifts require clutch actions. What a sad, too familiar swansong for the distant sons of
Punch Imlach
. The Leafs' last two losses in the series were
With the option to cut
John Tavares
free and get out from under his $11 million-per-annum cap hit, it's a fairly easy financial play to keep Marner. His now-expired deal carried a $10.9 million cap hit. They could bump him to
Auston Matthews's
$13.25 million and that would leave Treliving upward of $9 million to spend elsewhere. Perhaps half of that to bring Tavares back to camp at age 35 for another run up the Sisyphus slope.
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Marner this season reached the 100-point plateau (27-75—102) for the first time. The last four NHL seasons, only seven others, including
David Pastrnak
, outproduced Marner's aggregate 118-265—383 in the regular season. He is prolific.
Yet come the heavy lift of the playoffs, Marner again too often was a disappointment, something true across the board for the Leafs. Moxie ain't their drink. He finished with one goal (1-4—5) in the seven games vs. Florida and but two for the club's 13-game playoff run. Is that a $12 million-a-year player?
The boldest move of all for Treliving would be to let both Marner and Tavares walk and then redefine and recreate the attack. Wrap some grit and growl around
William Nylander
,
Matthew Knies
, and Matthews. Frankly, why not try it? How often must they fail before realizing this method doesn't do it?
Treliving made solid moves in back, importing
Chris Tanev
,
Oliver Ekman-Larsson
, and
Kyle Dubas
and Shanahan never addressed. Dubas, since moved on to Pittsburgh, dug in deep on the Marner-Matthews-Nylander-Tavares foursome. What looked good on paper, however, never paid off in hardware.
The killer here is optics, seeing Marner — a young and highly coveted asset — depart the Leafs for nothing in return. It just doesn't happen, right? Instead, logic dictates that the Leafs will secure Marner to, say, an eight-year deal for a total $100m-$110m, appease everyone for the moment, and open training camp amid the sunshine of a new season that will have fandom saying, yep, 2025-26 could be the year.
What possibly could go wrong, Sisyphus?
ETC.
Marchand found way to beat odds
Brad Marchand and the Panthers are into the Eastern Conference finals.
Karl B DeBlaker/Associated Press
To clear up any confusion, of which there seems to be in abundance, the Bruins locked in a first-round pick for
Brad
Marchand
once the Panthers punched their ticket to the Eastern Conference finals.
Provided Florida made it out of Round 2 of the playoffs, the only other provision required for the pick to be upgraded from a second-rounder was that Marchand had to play in at least 50 percent of the club's games leading up to the conference finals.
Done and done, confirmed Panthers GM
Bill Zito
prior to the Panthers facing the Hurricanes. The Bruins will have an extra first-round pick in either 2027 or 2028. They have not picked twice in the first round since 2016, when they handed out Spoked-B sweaters to
Charlie McAvoy
(14) and
Trent Frederic
(29).
Meanwhile,
The piece is very much worth taking the time to read in its entirety.
'I'll never forget, when we were 12 years old,' offered Marchand, noting he was never the best player on his team in those days, 'our coach gave this speech in the locker room before a game, and he said, 'There's thousands of kids like you in Canada. There's thousands more all over the world. You know what the statistics say? The statistics say 0.01 percent of you will make it to the NHL.'
That stat stunned Marchand and was fresh in his mind during a game soon after against nearby Cole Harbour (
Sidney Crosby's
hometown). One of Cole Harbour's big forwards took a run at Marchand's brother, he recalled, setting off a 'red light' inside Brad for the rest of that game and, in a sense, the rest of his career.
'Every time the kid touched the puck,' noted Marchand, 'one of us took a run [at him]. He got so [ticked] off that he took a slashing penalty right at the end of his shift, and we got a power play. We ended up scoring the game-winning goal with him in the box, and I had this realization, like, 'OK, if I have a 0.01 chance, this might be one way of getting people to notice me.' '
Be it because of his size, or the way he 'was born,' added Marchand, his competitive nature ever since has been to do whatever it takes to win.
'Even if that means being hated,' said the Li'l Ball o'Hate. 'Even if it means carrying some baggage (i.e. a reputation for being a dirty player). 'If I played the game any other way, you absolutely would not know my name. You wouldn't care enough to hate me, because I wouldn't be in the NHL.'
Through two-plus playoff rounds, Marchand, 37, is a legitimate contender for the Conn Smythe Trophy as playoff MVP. His attitude, determination, unremitting work ethic, and ample side order of lingering 0.01 percent indignation will make him worthy of Hall of Fame consideration.
Loose pucks
Entering Friday, the Western Conference finals featured the top two scoring blue liners in the postseason: the Oilers'
Evan Bouchard
(5-8—13) and the Stars'
Thomas Harley
(4-7—11). Harley is the bigger surprise. He really emerged this season with the extended injury absence of
Miro Heiskanen
. It was Harley's shot that provided last Saturday's
Moritz Seider
in points per game (.549 vs .523) for all blue liners in that draft class. Seider (328 games) jumped into the bigs only two seasons after going No. 6. Harley didn't become a regular in Dallas until last season. Though born in Syracuse, N.Y., both his parents are from Edmonton, giving Harley dual citizenship. He was in Boston in February, on the blue line for Team Canada in
Dylan Holloway
walk to St. Louis last summer, on a rare restricted free agent offer sheet, leading to the need to
Jim Montgomery
? His now-expired deal carried a $2.3 million cap hit … In the 41 years since drafting
Don Sweeney
, the Bruins only four times saw similar late-round picks go on to build substantial NHL careers:
Randy Burridge
(1985, No. 157, 706 games),
Hal Gill
(1993, No. 207, 1,108 games),
P.J. Axelsson
(1995, No. 177, 797 games), and
Nate Thompson
(2003, No. 183, 844 games) …
Zdeno
Chara
scored 10 power-play goals in 2013-14 and only seven more in his remaining six seasons with the Bruins. Beginning in 2013-14,
Torey Krug
hit a high-water mark with the Bruins of six PPGs in a season. McAvoy's career high is four (2021-22). This past season, the entire blue line group contributed only three PPGs (McAvoy 2, Mason Lohrei 1) … The Blackhawks on Thursday went the recycle route and
Mike Sullivan
,
Rick Tocchet
,
Joel Quenneville
, and Blashill have a combined 3,860 games behind the bench. Three jobs remain open: Pittsburgh, Seattle, and Boston. No job yet for veterans
Peter Laviolette
or
John Tortorella
.
Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at