The Boston Bruins announced on Tuesday that the organization has signed general manager Don Sweeney to a two-year contract extension through the 2027-28 season. The move immediately raised two big questions: Why? And why now?
Sweeney was entering the final year of his current contract. When I asked team president Cam Neely on April 23 if he wanted to get an extension with Sweeney done now or if he would be willing to go through the 2025-26 season without one, Neely said he was still contemplating how to handle the situation.
“I’ve given it a lot of thought,” Neely said then. “I'm still contemplating what the best course of action is. But as I mentioned, I really feel like Don has done a good job here for the most part. Him and his staff have been very collaborative. I like when I sit in their meetings how collaborative they are. Obviously, the year that we had is a huge disappointment, and that falls on all of us, not just Don. That falls on all of us. I'll figure that out in the near future with that particular question, whether we’re going to re-sign Don or not. But he's got another year left.”
Neely allowed Sweeney to go through a season without an extension before, in 2021-22. The two sides did not finalize an extension until after the season was over, with only about a month or so left on Sweeney’s contract.
So, why not do that again now? Well, right off the bat, there’s one big difference: The Bruins are in the middle of a coaching search this time around. In the spring of 2021, Bruce Cassidy was locked in as the team’s head coach for at least the upcoming season (that 2021-22 season would end up being his last in Boston, as it turned out).
That’s not the case this year, though. The Bruins fired Jim Montgomery in November and went through the rest of the season with Joe Sacco as their interim head coach. According to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman, they have talked to as many as 15 candidates.
With several other hires already happening around the league, it is fair to wonder if Sweeney’s status has at all impacted the Bruins’ coaching search. It would only be natural for an incoming coach to want to know that the man hiring him has a secure job for more than one year. Extending Sweeney in the middle of this coaching search, at a time when he is most likely beginning to narrow down his list of candidates, makes for interesting timing, at the very least.
Jimmy Murphy of RG.org reported over the weekend that at least one candidate – new Flyers coach Rick Tocchet – was indeed concerned about Sweeney’s contract status. For what it’s worth, though, sources have indicated to WEEI.com that the Bruins weren’t pursuing Tocchet nearly as aggressively as Philadelphia did.
The coaching search might not be the only reason to extend Sweeney now. Another is that this offseason is – or at least should be – more of a retool offseason than a win-now offseason. That requires more patience and more of a long-term vision, which might not be as easy for Sweeney to have if he feels like his job depends on getting back to the playoffs next season.
The reality is that the Bruins already committed to letting Sweeney oversee the start of this retool when they allowed him to trade away multiple core pieces – namely Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle and Brandon Carlo – at the trade deadline. You don’t allow your GM to make franchise-altering moves like that if you’re thinking about firing him a couple months later.
Now, the Bruins are committing to allowing Sweeney to oversee more than just the start of the retool. Contractually, he’s Boston’s GM until 2028. Realistically, even if the Bruins were to fire Sweeney before the end of this new contract, the extension would seemingly lock him in through at least the 2026-27 season.
Whether that proves to be the right decision remains to be seen. Neely seems to be impressed with the work Sweeney has been doing behind the scenes since the end of the season.
“Don has navigated a disappointing period for our club with conviction, purpose, and a clear vision toward the future of the Boston Bruins,” Neely said in a statement. “He made difficult decisions around the trade deadline with the confidence they will pay dividends as we craft a path back to contention. He is continuing to follow that track with a robust and thorough search for our club’s next head coach, while also preparing for the upcoming NHL Draft and free agent signing period. I am confident in the plan he has followed these past few months – and excited for what’s to come for our team. The expectations in Boston have always been clear. It’s about winning championships.”
Fans might need to see that plan pay dividends on the ice before they can share in that confidence.