How the Bruins could mimic the Capitals’ turnaround template

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BRIGHTON, Mass. — On Feb. 23, 2023, Brian MacLellan made a difficult decision.

His team had made the playoffs eight straight times. There would not be a ninth.

That day, the then-Washington Capitals general manager traded Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway. Orlov, the do-it-all defenseman, helped the Capitals win the Stanley Cup in 2017-18. Hathaway spared no opponents while running everyone over as a fourth-line nightmare.

The Boston Bruins were happy to bring Orlov and Hathaway on.

Two nights later, the pending unrestricted free agents joined a club that was 44-8-5 at the time. The Bruins welcomed Orlov and Hathaway with a 3-1 win over the Vancouver Canucks. Linus Ullmark scored.

On Feb. 28, the Capitals flipped the 2023 first-round pick they acquired from the Bruins to the Toronto Maple Leafs in a deal for Rasmus Sandin. They kept their own: the No. 8 pick after completing 2022-23 with a 35-37-10 record.

On Tuesday, Ryan Leonard, the right-shot forward the Capitals drafted at No. 8 in 2023, will make his NHL debut against the Bruins. The 20-year-old Amherst, Mass., native scored 30 goals for Boston College this season, most of any NCAA player.

Leonard joins a team with 103 points, second-most in the NHL after missing the playoffs two years ago. In 2023-24, the Capitals were the No. 2 wild-card team with a minus-37 goal differential. They were swept in the first round by the New York Rangers.

“Obviously they have a collective buy-in of what they’re doing there as a group, and that’s important,” said Bruins interim coach Joe Sacco. “You just look at the way they play. They play hard. They’re a big, heavy, strong team, and they play to their identity. They have an identity and they stick to it. Typically, when you do that, you can have success.”

As for the Bruins, only three players are active from the Feb. 25, 2023, game where Orlov and Hathaway debuted: David Pastrnak, Jeremy Swayman and Pavel Zacha. General manager Don Sweeney sold at the deadline, just like MacLellan did two years ago.

Whether the Bruins can draft an impact player like Leonard or initiate a Capitals-like turnaround remains to be seen. But it’s a template for a path forward.

“I just look at it like it’s an opportunity,” Joe Sacco said of his interim status as the Bruins’ head coach. “You’re trying to do the best job you can.” (Charles LeClaire / Imagn Images)

A new voice

Spencer Carbery was only 35 when the Bruins hired him to be Jay Leach’s assistant in Providence for the 2017-18 season. He did not last long. One year later, the Capitals hired him for the lead job with the Hershey Bears, their AHL affiliate.

Carbery’s work was good enough that in 2022, Sweeney interviewed his former employee for the Bruins’ head coaching position. Sweeney ultimately hired Jim Montgomery to replace Bruce Cassidy. But on May 30, 2023, the Capitals hired Carbery as Peter Laviolette’s replacement.

It has been an excellent relationship. The outgoing Carbery has connected with veterans such as Alex Ovechkin and Tom Wilson while overseeing the development of Aliaksei Protas and Connor McMichael. Carbery is a runaway favorite for the Jack Adams Award.

The 43-year-old Carbery has been an ideal fit for the Capitals’ timeline. The Bruins could be considering something similar.

Sacco, 56, has done his best to manage a roster his GM has disassembled. But Boston may seek a younger and less experienced coach to grow in lockstep with the transitioning Bruins. Leach, 45, fits the profile of a Carbery-like coach: an up-and-comer with AHL head coaching experience. Leach was at the wheel in Providence for four seasons before joining Dave Hakstol’s staff in Seattle. He currently oversees the Bruins’ defense as one of Sacco’s assistants.

“I just look at it like it’s an opportunity,” Sacco said of his interim status. “You’re trying to do the best job you can. Our job as a coaching staff, my job as the coach, is to prepare the players the best way we can. Try to give them the necessary information to go out and have success. Obviously, there’s a lot of moving parts going on this year. But just try to remain consistent with the group, within our day-to-day process, and how we go about our business. I don’t look behind and I don’t look ahead. I just try to stay in the moment and stay focused on what we’re doing.”

Wheeling and dealing

MacLellan got the coaching hire right by landing Carbery. But MacLellan still had lots of work to do with the roster. MacLellan trusted his amateur scouting staff to make the right call with Leonard, who helped Team USA win back-to-back golds at the 2023 and 2024 World Junior Championships.

Ahead of the 2024 trade deadline, MacLellan continued to deal for futures. He sent out Anthony Mantha, Joel Edmundson and Evgeny Kuznetsov.

MacLellan then shifted to NHL help. On June 19, 2024, he acquired Pierre-Luc Dubois from the Los Angeles Kings for Darcy Kuemper. Then, within five days, MacLellan traded for Andrew Mangiapane, Logan Thompson and Jakob Chychrun.

All have played important roles for the 2024-25 Capitals. Dubois, down and out with L.A. (40 points in 2023-24), has 62 points while averaging 17:21 of ice time per game. Chychrun has 20 goals, the second-most among NHL defensemen behind Cale Makar (27). The Capitals signed Chychrun to an eight-year, $72 million extension on March 25.

Thompson has a .912 save percentage in 42 appearances. The former Vegas Golden Knight signed a six-year, $35.1 million deal on Jan. 27. Mangiapane has 14 goals.

All of the acquisitions have given Ovechkin the support staff he needs to chase Wayne Gretzky’s record. The 39-year-old is four goals away from tying No. 99’s mark.

“The ability to still be able to produce after all these years, knowing you put a game plan in place to try and stop that, it says a lot obviously about the individual,” Sacco said. “It’s an incredible milestone he’s trying to get to here.”

Sweeney can build around Swayman, Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy, just as MacLellan and successor Chris Patrick surrounded Ovechkin, Wilson and John Carlson with secondary support. The Bruins GM has months, if not years, of heavy lifting to do so.

But a model exists.

(Top photo of Alex Ovechkin and his Washington Capitals teammates celebrating a recent victory: Sean M. Haffey / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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