Long time absentee poster here, but this trade and this management are a joke.
Sweeney just got bent over by a rookie GM. Not a good look.
"We'll just keep our great tandem if we don't get what we want" - Sweeney posturing
IS THIS what we wanted? A late 1st + cap dump + 4th liner? The whole point to move Ullmark was to free up his cap hit. If the goal is to move Korpisalo; then why didn't we just make Ottawa deal with it? They don't do it unless we take a multi-season bad contract? Tell them to pound sand; Sweeney is the tenured GM here. Ullmark held the cards, Sweeney was allowed to fold at any point, but just played a bad hand anyways. Well I guess I have no choice but to take this bad contract no one wants.
Ullmark for a 1st and Kastalic, not great, but certainly could live with. Hey we'd have 5M cap space to do what we need to.
BUT Taking on Korpisalo (even retained slightly) is a downright joke. How much has Sweeney paid over the years to dump a crap contract? Feels like every other season we had to pay something to dump a contract.
In a vacuum this slightly overpaid guys aren't that bad; but when you end up with a bottom half of the roster that'd overpaid; we don't have money to invest in the top half; Sweeney's bread and butter has been actually finding guys in the bargain bin and getting them to produce. BUT completely offsets it with overpaying portions of his roster; then usually overpaying another team to take this contracts before they even end.
While everyone clamoring, "But Essensa can turn him around and make him good again!"; yes but you don't sink 3M for multiple years into something like that. How about Bussi? If Essensa is so great, why don't they trust he can turn him into something? Or at the very least grab a cost controlled vet doesn't change a single bit of their off-season strategy. All taking Korpisalo does is give them 2-3M less to work with; and while everyone's like "Well we can buy him out, or bury him, find someone to trade him"; why? Make Ottawa do that. Sweeney just stuck with his pants down again, and looks like an absolute novice when it comes to trading roster players.
Every season, Bruins fans sit here and justify a questionable move, waiting for the other shoe to drop. And then it never does. I see plenty of half-glass full people out here, but Sweeney has done this song and dance before; and while he has had relative success, falling short because of the little things year in and year out, starts the off-season with more of the same.
I used to be ok with just waiting to see what Sweeney has up his sleeves; but let's be honest, it's usually nothing or his plan C or D.
Anyways, I'm out again. Hello to all I've chatted with over the years. Hope you are all well.
