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Bruins extend GM Don Sweeney

Hot take time

Don Sweeney is a great GM, one of the best in the game. He's great at finding value players, always builds a great bottom six and d core. He's worked wonders with the cap and people were saying the Bruins were due to collapse due to the core aging out since 2018, and he not only kept things afloat but put together the best team of the decade. And at the deadline he went all in on that team. For a bunch of reasons that team didn't get it done in the playoffs, which is primarily on the coach and players. But Sweeney is not to blame for that at all and if he didn't go all in on the deadline it would've been a mistake.

In a cap world you can't keep everything going forever, and this year everything they'd leveraged for years caught up to them. And instead of trying to patch things up and be mediocre enough to complete for a wild card and one and done, he had the guts to aggressively tear down everything that wasn't bolted down. Marchand, Carlo, Coyle, Frederic. And he collected some good talent and draft picks (and got the first rounder for Marchand to convey). Shut down the injured players, and they put themselves in position to get a high pick (then got f***ed over by the NHL' bullshit lottery system).

Next year might be another DNQ, but with some good futures to work with, expiring cap space, having an elite RW and #1D locked up long-term, and hopefully hiring a new coach who isn't a piece of shit, they could be back on the rise soon enough, and I for one do trust Don Sweeney to lead that rebuild.
 
Getting what he did at the deadline was huge. Honestly, this team should have been better had Swayman decided not to become Blaine Lacher.
 
I think he's a pretty good GM all things considered. I do wonder if it would be time for new vision with Bruins going to re-tool if not re-build.
 
McGarnagle said:
Hot take time

Don Sweeney is a great GM, one of the best in the game. He's great at finding value players, always builds a great bottom six and d core. He's worked wonders with the cap and people were saying the Bruins were due to collapse due to the core aging out since 2018, and he not only kept things afloat but put together the best team of the decade. And at the deadline he went all in on that team. For a bunch of reasons that team didn't get it done in the playoffs, which is primarily on the coach and players. But Sweeney is not to blame for that at all and if he didn't go all in on the deadline it would've been a mistake.

In a cap world you can't keep everything going forever, and this year everything they'd leveraged for years caught up to them. And instead of trying to patch things up and be mediocre enough to complete for a wild card and one and done, he had the guts to aggressively tear down everything that wasn't bolted down. Marchand, Carlo, Coyle, Frederic. And he collected some good talent and draft picks (and got the first rounder for Marchand to convey). Shut down the injured players, and they put themselves in position to get a high pick (then got f***ed over by the NHL' bullshit lottery system).

Next year might be another DNQ, but with some good futures to work with, expiring cap space, having an elite RW and #1D locked up long-term, and hopefully hiring a new coach who isn't a piece of shit, they could be back on the rise soon enough, and I for one do trust Don Sweeney to lead that rebuild.
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I don't know if I'd go quite that far, but anyone that looks at the final standings of this year and says "lol why resign him" is ignoring that it was largely by design. You don't gut the team like that and not expect to finish near the bottom of the standings. I'll give him credit for having the guts to cut bait and sell, rather than try to sneak into a wild-card.

I'll also give him credit for pushing all-in in 2023, the effects of which are still being felt (a 2nd and a 4th in the upcoming draft).

But his drafting has been very hit or miss (mostly miss) to say the least, and he's never managed to get a true top-6 winger/center thru free agency or trades that you can build around.

Do agree that there's no such thing as a "lame duck" GM, so a 2-year extension does seem like a short leash. The team will rebound this coming year (or the next depending upon the plan, but really don't want them wasting peak Pasta years) and he'll get another extension -- or he'll get fired.
 
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