The Bruins’ end-of-season media availability continued on Wednesday with general manager Don Sweeney’s press conference.
Here are five key takeaways from what Sweeney had to say:
1. Sweeney still doesn’t have a contract for next season
It had been reported for a while that Sweeney’s contract expires this offseason. Sweeney was asked about his status, and confirmed that he does not yet have a contract for next season. He expects a resolution “in short order.”
“I’m under contract for right now,” Sweeney said. “I’ve had a discussion later in the year as to the indication of where my path will be, and that will be determined in short order.”
Sweeney did not give any clues as to whether he expects that “path” to be a new contract with the team or not. President Cam Neely is set to meet with the media Thursday at 11 a.m., so perhaps he will provide more clarity then.
Sweeney has been the Bruins’ GM since May 2015, when he took over for Peter Chiarelli. He helped turn around a team on the decline at that time, with the Bruins making the playoffs each of the last six years, winning at least one round in four straight years before this year’s first-round exit, and reaching the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.
However, Sweeney has also come under criticism for not quite doing enough to get the Bruins back to the top of the mountain. His drafting and free-agent signings have been particularly easy, and fair, areas to criticize.
Sweeney said he understands the criticism, but also holds himself to as high a standard as anyone else possibly could.
“I think I’ve been around this town long enough for people to know in terms of pressure of what I’m necessarily gonna lump on myself, and hold myself to the standard of why I’m in this job,” he said. “What the Jacobs family, the organization, the history of the Boston Bruins -- the standard of what we’re being held to is exactly what I aspire to. To be perfectly honest, the aspiration is to be the best in class, on and off the ice.
“And when we’re not, we want to hear about it. The criticisms are what they are. Nobody likes to hear them. Everybody calls it constructive criticism. I don’t necessarily know that anybody feels it’s constructive, but it’s appropriate, and you need to hear them. You need to have evaluations. You need to look in the mirror and figure out what that guy staring back at you would tell you. That’s a big part of my makeup, but I think it aligns with what we try to accomplish, what we have tried to accomplish.”
2. Replacing Patrice Bergeron ‘might take years’
One of those criticisms of Sweeney is that the team did not have a second-line center ready to replace David Krejci, and does not have a first-line center ready to replace Bergeron should he decide to retire. They’ve taken some cracks at it, but are still searching.
The team’s top center prospect right now is probably Georgii Merkulov, an undrafted free agent signed out of Ohio State this spring. He has legitimate top-six upside, but will likely need more AHL seasoning before he’s ready. Marc McLaughlin, signed out of Boston College this spring, could have middle-six potential.
Jack Studnicka has yet to stick at the NHL level, and his development has seemingly plateaued. Johnny Beecher looks like a future bottom-six forward at best. Trent Frederic is more of a wing at this point and doesn’t have a particularly high offensive ceiling.
Finding first-line centers through free agency or trade is no easy task. Teams tend to make sure they lock up players like that.
Knowing all this, Sweeney on Wednesday sounded like someone who was bracing for an uncomfortable transition should Bergeron actually decide to retire.
“We are going to give Patrice as much time as he necessarily needs,” Sweeney said. “You can look at Plan B and C and such, but let’s be honest, you don’t replace that type of player and what he means to our organization. That might take years to replace that player in that sense. So, we do have to give him all the latitude in the world to make the best decision for him and his family, and we’ll do that. He’s given us an indication that he’s not gonna hold us up in that sense in terms of what we may have to do subsequent to him making a decision, but to be perfectly honest, I don’t think there’s a timetable on it.
“Again, it might be years in the making, in terms of you draft a player like that, you develop a player like that, and you count your blessings every day,” Sweeney added. “That’s ultimately what it comes down to, to be perfectly honest. That’s how it generally happens for most organizations. When you have an iconic player and a player who’s going to enter the Hall of Fame, that’s generally how it transpires. It will be no different for the Boston Bruins to find the next type. I don’t know if there will be another one.”
3. The door could still be open for Krejci
One potential short-term fix at center would be Krejci returning to the Bruins after playing in the Czech Republic this past season. Krejci never shut the door on returning to the NHL and/or the Bruins at some point, and still hasn’t.
Sweeney didn’t shut the door either, although he did say he hasn’t talked to Krejci since the season ended. He suggested David Pastrnak might be something of his boots on the ground, as Pastrnak and Krejci are both currently playing for the Czech Republic in the IIHF World Championship in Finland.
“Not recently,” Sweeney said when asked if he’s talked to Krejci. “David Pastrnak, along with Jeremy Swayman and Linus Ullmark, have all traveled over to the World Championships to play. Knowing how close they are, I’m sure there will be a conversation, and maybe it filters back to me.
“I certainly kept in touch with David and his camp throughout the year. He had hard decisions to make in terms of the promise he had made to his family. Just ultimately decided to stay and see it through. I’m sure that at some point in time, if he decides to return, hopefully I get a call and we can have a conversation. But I have not gone down that path for several months.”
Krejci would be an unrestricted free agent, free to sign with any team, if he decided to return to the NHL this offseason. He would not need to go through waivers like he would’ve had to if he had returned in-season.
“It has to line up for a number of reasons,” Sweeney said. “It still looks like he values playing the game and being highly competitive, and was very productive. Seamlessly would probably fall back into knowing what our team is like and what we’re trying to accomplish. But again, it’s hypothetical at me for this point in time, so I’ll cross that bridge when it’s presented.”
4. Pastrnak extension talks could start soon
Speaking of Pastrnak, Sweeney indicated he would like to get the ball rolling on extension talks with the star winger as soon as possible.
Pastrnak is entering the final year of the six-year deal he signed in 2017. His next contract should see the soon-to-be-26-year-old get a sizable raise over the $6.67 million per year he’s getting now.
Pastrnak said on Monday that he hadn’t thought about his next contract, noting -- understandably -- that he “had a lot of other stuff I’ve been worrying about the whole year.”
“Just a general conversation exit-wise in terms of having the opportunity at the earliest possible time allowable to have a conversation with his camp,” Sweeney said Wednesday. “He knows it. There’s a mutual respect from David, me, and his camp.
“We’ll dive right into it at the earliest possible time that we’re allowed to and get that indication. There’s never been an indication otherwise, that this is where he wants to play. He’s obviously a great player and an important player for us, and we’ll attack it like we have done with all the other players that we feel the same way.”
5. Brad Marchand could need hip surgery
Marchand told reporters on Monday that he might need surgery on something either this offseason or next, but he didn’t say what.
Sweeney revealed on Wednesday that it’s a hip adductor issue, and that the team was surprised to learn of it at the end of the season. He said Marchand is still going through some evaluation to determine the best path forward.
“Probably the biggest surprise is Marsh. He’s gonna have an evaluation hip-wise,” Sweeney said. “I think he’s got some tests to go out. … Marsh, in disclosure, was probably the one that was a little more surprising, of having some adductor issues the last couple years. He’s doing more exploratory stuff now to confirm that. But again, I didn’t want to have anyone caught off guard. If we go down that, we’ll certainly announce.”
Sweeney said they weren’t sure yet what the timetable might be if Marchand does require surgery.
“I’m not getting ahead of myself,” he said. “It wasn’t on the radar when other people have spoken, so I certainly felt it was due diligence to disclose, rather than it being a surprise down the road. I will cross that bridge when it does come.”
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