The Boston Bruins have signed general manager Don Sweeney to a two-year contract extension that keeps him in place through 2027-28, the team announced on Tuesday. This extension comes on the heels of the Bruins missing the playoffs for the first time since 2016, and Sweeney will face tough questions as he tries to retool the roster.
In the team’s official announcement, Bruins president Cam Neely said Sweeney has “navigated a disappointing period for our club with conviction, purpose, and a clear vision toward the future of the Boston Bruins.”
On the whole, Sweeney’s résumé as the GM in Boston is quite impressive and would seem to indicate he is capable of turning things around. The franchise boasts a 458-233-91 record under his guidance, and he built a team that went to the 2019 Stanley Cup Finals, which earned him GM of the Year.
However, Sweeney’s recent decision-making is a big reason why the Bruins are navigating that “disappointing period.” You can start by looking behind the bench.
Coaching carousel
In 2022, following a 107-point season and a first-round playoff loss to the Carolina Hurricanes, Sweeney fired coach Bruce Cassidy. Almost exactly one year later, Cassidy was lifting the Stanley Cup as the coach of the Vegas Golden Knights.
The blow of losing Cassidy was softened by the fact that Sweeney landed Jim Montgomery as his replacement. In his first year on the job, Montgomery led Boston to the greatest regular season in NHL history before bowing out in the second round to the Florida Panthers.
Two years later, with a less talented roster in front of him, Montgomery was fired after just 20 games.
The St. Louis Blues scooped up Montgomery almost immediately, and he orchestrated a dramatic turnaround that resulted in the team reaching the playoffs on the strength of a 38-18-7 run.
Poor personnel decisions
In addition to his impatience with coaches, Sweeney has been unable to push the right buttons on the player personnel side. Too many of his moves just haven’t panned out over the last two years:
Lindholm and Zadorov were two of the most disappointing free agent acquisitions last season, and Swayman failed to play up to expectations after very public and somewhat contentious contract negotiations. Meanwhile, Ullmark thrived as the new No. 1 for the Senators.
Some of the other moves can be explained away as a GM trying to push his chips in while his team’s championship window was still open, but most of them fell flat. Bertuzzi played well while in Boston, but that was a high price to pay for a rental and a second-round playoff exit.
Likewise, Orlov and Hathaway were fine players in their brief stints with the Bruins, but they didn’t make the kind of impact that justifies sending a boatload of draft capital the other way.
Explaining his decision to extend Sweeney, Neely pointed to some of the “difficult decisions” Sweeney made around the trade deadline as indicators that change is coming. Most notably, captain Brad Marchand was traded to the Panthers, and blue-line staple Brandon Carlo was shipped to the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Those moves do signal a retooling for the Bruins, but is Sweeney the person who should oversee that project? Recent history suggests Boston would have been better served to go in a different direction.