Boston Bruins Extend Don Sweeney
The Boston Bruins have made it official, signing general manager Don Sweeney to a multi-year contract extension. The move comes just as his current contract was set to expire, and keeps him at the head of the front office for the foreseeable future.
Bruins’ CEO Charlie Jacobs released a statement:
We are proud to extend Don Sweeney to a multi-year contract as General Manager of the Boston Bruins. Under his management, the Boston Bruins have been one of the winningest franchises in the league and a perennial playoff contender year in and year out. While we recognize there is work to be done to achieve the ultimate goal of bringing the Stanley Cup back to Boston, I’m confident that Don’s commitment to being best-in-class on and off the ice will help us climb that mountain once again.
Team president Cam Neely also expressed praise and confidence in his general manager, explaining that he believes Sweeney is committed to doing “whatever it takes” to give the Bruins the best chance at winning the Stanley Cup.
Since the end of the season, which saw the Bruins exit the first round at the hands of the Carolina Hurricanes, Sweeney has drawn plenty of criticism. The firing of well-liked head coach Bruce Cassidy just a few days after he was told he would be back, some eyebrow-raising comments from a source close to winger David Pastrnak, and the still unresolved issue of Patrice Bergeron‘s future have made Sweeney the target of many fans’ ire.
Named general manager in 2015, Sweeney has taken the Bruins to the playoffs in each of the last six seasons, including a run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019. The team has drafted and developed players like Charlie McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, Brandon Carlo, and Jake DeBrusk in that time as well, a huge chunk of the team’s current core. Taylor Hall, Charlie Coyle, Hampus Lindholm, and others represent trades that Sweeney orchestrated as well.
It’s the other moves, including several missed draft picks and trades that have taken players like Ryan Lindgren out of the organization that draw so much criticism and have made Sweeney such a hot-button topic for Bruins fans, and what will likely make the reaction to this news rather negative.
The team did not detail how many years the new contract is for. Sweeney is in the process of conducting a search for the team’s next head coach.
David Pastrnak To Discuss Extension In July
The Boston Bruins are experiencing quite a bit of change. Not only did they fire Bruce Cassidy, but it is unclear whether Patrice Bergeron will return, Brad Marchand and Charlie McAvoy are both out long-term following surgery, and now David Pastrnak‘s future with the team seems suspect.
Last night, Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic wrote an explosive article about Pastrnak’s future in Boston, suggesting that he may not be open to a long-term extension. The piece even quotes a source close to the star forward, who claims there is “no chance” that Pastrnak would return with Don Sweeney as general manager.
Today, Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet tweets that Pastrnak and agent JP Barry are expected to sit down with Sweeney in early July to discuss an extension. The insider also notes, however, that if Pastrnak won’t sign the Bruins would “definitely have to move him.” To Steve Conroy of the Boston Herald, Barry also indicated that he doesn’t know where The Athletic’s report came from and that they have a “solid relationship” with Sweeney.
That’s perhaps shocking to some, given Pastrnak’s status in Boston as one of the most dynamic offensive players in the league but more and more it appears as though the Bruins are heading toward a rebuild. Trading the 26-year-old winger would obviously have a huge effect on any efforts in that direction, especially if it came with an attached extension wherever he ends up. The Bruins would likely get an incredible haul, given this is the kind of player that can push a team over the top and take them from playoff hopeful to Stanley Cup contender.
He’s done that for Boston for so many years, racking up 240 goals and 504 points in 510 career games. Pastrnak has been even better in the playoffs, totaling 74 points in 70 games, and remains one of the most lethal powerplay threats in the league. If made available, teams around the league would likely be scrambling over each other to get a chance.
Still, it wasn’t always this way for Boston. The team signed Taylor Hall to a four-year, $24MM contract last summer to give them a weapon beyond the first line. Just a few months ago they traded a huge package of picks and prospects for Hampus Lindholm, extending him to an eight-year $52MM contract immediately. Those aren’t moves that a rebuilding squad usually does, meaning that a Pastrnak extension should obviously still be a priority.
The question is really raised if he won’t sign it, and what that will do for the competitiveness of the team–Hall and Lindholm acquisitions be damned. If no deal is reached, Pastrnak could quickly become the biggest story of the summer.