With the NHL trade deadline approaching Friday, Bruins GM Don Sweeney outlined the team’s approach as the deadline nears.
A year after the last deadline, the Bruins are back in the playoff picture. They currently occupy the second wild card spot in the Eastern Conference. With 23 games remaining, a lot had to go right for the Bruins to reach this position.
Last year, the Bruins opted for a retool. They sold off valuable assets, including the captain, and turned them into a bolstered prospect pool, young NHLers, and draft picks.
“In all likelihood, it will be a little different than last year,” Sweeney said to open the conference. “Not necessarily as aggressive and active, but we would like to continue to improve our hockey club if possible.”
“We’d like to give them a bump, because they’ve earned that. But it’s an eye towards obviously this year, but moving forward as well. So, that’s what our intentions are as we go to the deadline. That may or may not come to fruition, but we’re going to explore them and see what it presents.”
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Although Sweeney is looking to give the team a bump, he is aware of where the team was at this time last season.
“It doesn’t mean we’re going to sacrifice some of the things we went through last year to try and address organizational depth – both at the prospect level, draft capital level, and at the NHL level. I think we’ve done a decent job there, but it’s only a one-year snapshot.”
Bringing in a player with term is important to Sweeney, but if you are hoping for a Taylor Hall-like trade, don’t. The prices are high this year, and the Bruins are not looking for short-term rentals.
“Now, this time of the year, the asks are going to be exorbitant, and that’s the balancing act. It just is. But if we have a player that we’ve identified to be a difference maker, and he’s under control or with the opportunity to extend, then we’re going to explore that. It’s my job to figure out what that acquisition cost will be and whether or not to add.”
“It really comes down to what the other team is going to look for. Some are hockey trades, some are futures. I’m not going to just leverage things, to the point maybe we’ve done some of that stuff in the past and thinned our group out. But I’m willing to explore a hockey trade if it presents for all parties.”
Also, Sweeney added that the “pure rental market is probably not at the top of the list.”
He doubled down on getting a player with term, saying the door might be closed if there is a player who is already set on free agency come July. However, if a player on an expiring contract (with a protection clause) says that he wants to play in Boston, that is an opportunity that they will explore.
The Bruins have the assets to make a move. Anthony Di Marco of the Daily Faceoff said, “The Bruins certainly have the ammunition to at least stay in the mix until the finish line” for a player like Robert Thomas, who has been linked to the Bruins in trade rumors.
But Sweeney is not rushing to trade any expiring free agents. The Bruins are in the playoff picture with the players they have now, but the intensity ramps up from this point forward.
“Well, we play 11 games in 19 days coming up, so we’re in a position that we’ve got a couple [of] unhappy guys that have been out of the lineup on the back end. But chances are, you’re going to need depth between now and the end of the year,” he said.
Andrew Peeke is a right-handed defenseman on an expiring contract. He has been out of the lineup as a healthy scratch since the Bruins returned from the Olympic break. Swedish right winger Viktor Arvidsson is also on an expiring contract.
“The schedule is condensed. You’re going to need the depth. So I’m not just in a hurry to usher people out the door that have helped us get to the point that we are right here. If something presents and maybe there’s a lateral situation that improves our depth, and then I have to do my job and explore it, but that’s not necessarily what our intentions are. But it only takes one phone call to change that mindset of mine.”
READ MORE: What Could the Bruins Get for Their Trade Chips?
Some of the other Bruins’ assets include four first-round picks. The Bruins have two in 2026 and two more in 2027.
“The right deal has to come along,” Sweeney said about the first-round picks. “If the right deal presents [itself], that it’s helping our club now and moving forward, then we have to explore and look at that. And that’s part of the job our scouts do a really good job, to push the envelope to say, ‘Hey, does this make sense for us now and moving forward?’”
“We’ll use them, hopefully, as effectively as we possibly can to do that. I’m not anxiously, aggressively doing it (trading a first-rounder), but if it presents, I have to ask the questions of who’s available and whether or not those assets will allow us to acquire the player.”
The Bruins also have a pool of prospects that can be moved out in a trade. Sweeney had high praise for Boston College forwards Andre Gasseau, James Hagens, and Dean Letourneau during his press conference on Monday.
READ MORE: Bruins Prospect Notebook: 11 NCAA Prospects on Scoresheet; Locmelis Injured
However, shortly after the press conference, Jimmy Murphy of RG reported that the Bruins are unwilling to move on from Letourneau unless it is in a potential package for Robert Thomas.
For Don Sweeney and the Bruins, the goal remains the same.
“Making the playoffs has undoubtedly been the goal.”
