What does Bruins’ Don Sweeney extension mean? Faith in aggressive moves to come

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The Boston Bruins did not sign Don Sweeney to a two-year extension to reward him for a decade of good service. On Tuesday, 10 years to the day since they hired him as GM, the Bruins signed Sweeney through 2028 to repeat how he’s acted at earlier critical moments. To be aggressive.

Sweeney is a diligent and thorough executive. His methodical coaching search aligns with how he operates. Locking in his own deal should settle the nerves of any candidate concerned about his future boss’ job security.

But when Sweeney believes the time is right, he proceeds boldly and fearlessly. Consider the previous instances:

1. Trading five roster players ahead of the 2025 deadline. Sweeney could have executed targeted transactions to reshape the roster. Instead, with futures and a high 2025 first-round pick in mind, Sweeney moved Justin Brazeau, Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle, Trent Frederic and Brad Marchand. He also traded Max Jones, who was in AHL Providence at the time. 

Sweeney dealt interim coach Joe Sacco a bad hand by lopping off so much varsity experience for Marat Khusnutdinov, Jakub Lauko and Casey Mittelstadt, the NHLers he received in return. But Sweeney considered it necessary discomfort to accelerate the turnaround. 

Other assets accumulated in the selloff include Fraser Minten, Will Zellers, two 2025 second-rounders, a 2026 first-rounder and what will most likely be a 2027 or 2028 first-round selection based on how many more appearances Marchand makes in the Florida Panthers’ playoff run.

2. Firing Jim Montgomery. Sweeney had a good relationship with Montgomery, whom he hired in 2022. Montgomery led a record-setting roster in 2022-23 and got the Bruins to the second round in 2023-24. He communicated well with his players. He devised good game plans, emphasizing net-front coverage and high-quality offense.

But when Montgomery could neither maximize his players’ output nor uncover solutions for the first 20 games of 2024-25, Sweeney saw no choice but to dismiss the 2023 Coach of the Year.

3. Acquiring Dmitry Orlov, Garnet Hathaway and Tyler Bertuzzi. The 2022-23 Bruins were rolling.  They were deep at every position. Sweeney was not satisfied.

He got a do-it-all defenseman in Orlov and a fourth-line headache in Hathaway. When Taylor Hall hurt his knee before the deadline, Sweeney secured insurance in Bertuzzi. All three were rentals. They did not come cheap: a 2023 first-rounder, 2024 first-rounder, 2025 second-rounder. All three walked at year’s end after the Bruins lost to the Panthers in Round 1.

4. Firing Bruce Cassidy. Sweeney and Cassidy had built deep ties. When he was assistant GM and director of player development, Sweeney dealt regularly with Cassidy, formerly Providence’s head coach. Sweeney believed in Cassidy to succeed Claude Julien in 2017 and help the Bruins progress.

Cassidy rewarded Sweeney’s faith. He coached the Bruins to six straight playoff appearances. The Bruins lost to the St. Louis Blues in Game 7 of the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. Cassidy helped Marchand grow into one of the NHL’s top all-around left wings, Patrice Bergeron evolve from a defense-first center to an offensive presence and David Pastrnak become an offensive gamebreaker.

But Sweeney concluded that Cassidy’s approach had grown too hard on the players. The GM was correct. Players like Carlo and Frederic, who did not appreciate Cassidy’s firmness, took forward steps under Montgomery.

Bruce Cassidy and Don Sweeney helped lead the Bruins to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. (Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

5. Trading Dougie Hamilton and Milan Lucic. When Sweeney replaced Peter Chiarelli in 2015, he took over a roster with two players at critical junctures: Hamilton, the No. 9 pick in 2011, and Lucic, the franchise’s singular power forward.

Hamilton wanted to be traded. Lucic had one year left on his deal. Sweeney identified moving the two as his most efficient route for initiating a revival. 

Trading Hamilton and Lucic netted Sweeney a haul: two 2015 first-rounders, two 2015 second-rounders, Martin Jones and Colin Miller. This gave the Bruins the 13th, 14th and 15th picks in 2015.

What happened next to the first-year GM produced scars that still remain. He could not move up for an opportunity to draft Noah Hanifin, Zach Werenski or Ivan Provorov. Instead, the Bruins picked Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk and Zach Senyshyn, none of whom are still with the club. They left Mat Barzal, Kyle Connor, Thomas Chabot, Joel Eriksson Ek, Brock Boeser and Travis Konecny on the table.

So what does the extension mean?

Largely, it was a formality. CEO Charlie Jacobs and president Cam Neely would not have changed course after Sweeney cut wide and deep before the deadline. Sweeney has advanced to the next stage of the rebuild: adding, not subtracting.

To fulfill this segment, history says Sweeney will not hold back considering the urgency of the situation. He will have free rein to spend to the $95.5 million ceiling in 2025-26. If he wants a dynamic addition, Mitch Marner is waiting to become the NHL’s highest-paid player. If he views an offer sheet as a mechanism to quicken the rebuild and weaken a rival, signing Matthew Knies would check both boxes.

The extension does not alter Sweeney’s plan. It hints at what is to come: a daring step forward.

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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