It was a quiet 2022 off-season in terms of roster subtractions and additions for Boston Bruins general manager (GM) Don Sweeney. Despite minor subtractions and additions to the 2022-23 roster, there was no shortage of storylines surrounding Sweeney. With free agency over, the 2022 Entry Draft in Montreal in the books, and training camp and the preseason in the books let’s look back and grade Sweeney’s 2022 offseason.
Sweeney Fires Cassidy & Hires Montgomery
Following the Bruins’ first-round loss in Game 7 to the Carolina Hurricanes, Boston went through their normal end-of-the-season cleanup and final media availabilities before everyone went their separate ways for the summer. Sweeney told Cassidy in May that he would be back for the final year of his contract as the Black and Gold’s coach.
A couple of days after Sweeney and Cassidy addressed the media for the final time, team President Cam Neely took the podium at Warrior Ice Arena and painted a different picture.
“I think we have to look at making some changes as far as how we play,” Neely said during his end-of-year press conference at the team’s practice facility in Brighton. “I think Bruce is a fantastic coach. He’s brought a lot of success to this organization. I like him as a coach. So we’ll see where it goes. I do think we need to make some changes.” (from ‘Cam Neely leaves open the possibility that Bruce Cassidy may not return as Bruins coach,’ Boston Globe, May 19, 2022)
Fast forward three weeks later and things took a 360-degree turn. On June 6, Sweeney went to Cassidy’s suburban Boston home to deliver the news that he was being released from his duties with one-year remaining on his contract. Speaking following the firing of Cassidy, Sweeney said that he felt the Bruins needed a new direction behind the bench.
“A very, very difficult decision yesterday,” Sweeney said. “I met with Bruce in the afternoon. Both professionally and personally, I want to thank he and his family, Julie and Cole and Shannon, for what they’ve done both on and off the ice for the Boston Bruins organization. A really tough day overall. But I had to make a decision that I felt [was] in the best interest of where our team is at now and moving forward.
“I just felt that the messaging and the voice that was going to be required, I felt that we needed a new direction.”
Even though Sweeney denied that the players in the locker room had no say in Cassidy’s departure, it’s hard not to see how it could be considered a connection. One month after Cassidy’s firing (and he was quickly picked up by the Vegas Golden Knights), Jake DeBrusk, who often clashed with Cassidy, rescinded his trade request. Between Sweeney telling Cassidy his job was safe, to Neely’s comments, to Cassidy’s firing three weeks, and DeBrusk’s rescinded request, this looks like from the outside that no matter what Sweeney tells you, it was not his idea to fire Cassidy.
In early July after an extensive search for their next coach, Sweeney and the Bruins hired former Dallas Stars coach Jim Montgomery. Will the change lead to better results that 51 wins and a postseason berth? That remains to be seen.
Sweeney Selects Center Depth at 2022 Entry Draft
Entering the Entry Draft in Montreal, the one big need to add was prospects up the middle at center. The Bruins did not have a first-round pick the summer as it was sent to the Anaheim Ducks at the trade deadline in March that acquired Hampus Lindholm. The first pick Sweeney had was in the second round, where he selected Matthew Poitras 54th overall. Another center, Cole Spicer, was picked next, 117th overall in the fourth round, and Dans Locmelis was the third consecutive center off the board in the fifth round and 132nd overall.
It’s too early to know just how well each prospect is going to end up doing, but with a lack of young centers in the system and prospects pool, it was an area that needed to be addressed and was.
Bruins Quiet in Free Agency
When free agency began on July 13, there was very little room to add anyone from the open market as Boston entered this summer as a cap team, mainly because of the spending spree Sweeney went on the previous summer, bringing in five notable free agents. With little to no room to add to the roster, the Black and Gold made a trade at the beginning of free agency.
Related: Bruins’ Neely Missing the Narrative When Defending Sweeney
The Bruins sent Erik Haula to the New Jersey Devils for Pavel Zacha, a restricted free agent, who ended up signing a one-year, $3.5 million contract. The only other moves by Sweeney were signing Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci to one-year contracts, loaded with incentives for the upcoming season. Boston did sign A.J. Greer to a two-year contract in July and the 25-year-old and former Boston University player had a strong training camp and earned a role in the Black and Gold’s bottom six. Overall, this was a pretty deep free-agent class and Sweeney picked the wrong summer to be a cap team and not add a big splash to a team that appears to think it’s still a contender.
Pastrnak Extension
The biggest topic going into the 2022 offseason was David Pastrnak and his future in Boston. The gifted-goal scorer enters the 2022-23 season in the final year of his contract that carries an average annual value (AAV) of $6.6 million, which is an extremely team-friendly deal. Now, Sweeney needs to lock up the 2019-20 co-winner of the Maurice Rocket Richard Award or risk losing him next summer in free agency.
Pastrnak still has not signed yet and a lot of it may be because of his worries about what the team’s future looks like once the core is gone. If that’s the case, then that’s on the Bruins’ front office and Sweeney. We will see what happens. The feeling here is that he will sign eventually.
As the Bruins begin the 2022-23 regular season tonight against the Washington Capitals, they will be shorthanded with some key players sidelined. There was very little roster movement over the summer, but Sweeney did address the team’s need for young centers at the draft after hiring a new coach. Not signing Pastrnak is going to be a storyline all season, but now it’s time to begin the season for real.
Sweeney’s Final Grade: C-
