Boston Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs joined Gresh and Fauria on Tuesday during the WEEI/NESN Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon presented by Arbella Insurance and talked about the state of the franchise after a busy offseason.
“We finally had some money to spend this year,” Jacobs said, addressing the team’s free-agent additions.
“We were able to invest it in the club and we came out with some more grit… The proof will be in the pudding come October, I think we really improved our team,” he said.
Grit was a key pickup for the Bruins in Jacobs’ mind after two playoff runs ended by a team with a more physical edge in the Florida Panthers.
“Looking back at our past playoff runs, we got it taken to us a little bit in terms of the physicality department and hopefully these additions will really help us when it counts in the springtime,” he said.
The Bruins are still in an interesting transition period from the Patrice Bergeron era of the team to a new one with some veteran presence in Brad Marchand and David Pastrnak but also rising stars like Jeremy Swayman, Matt Poitras and Mason Lohrei.
“Sometimes you can be rookie heavy, and sometimes you can be veteran heavy,” Jacobs said. “I think we’ve got a very good mix and a great captain in Brad Marchand.”
Swayman is clearly intended to be a major part of the franchise going forward after the Bruins dealt away Linus Ullmark, but the 25-year-old still doesn’t have a contract.
“We are still negotiating with [Swayman]. I hope that he’s ready to play come training camp,” Jacobs said. “There’s still some things to work out, I’m sure we’ll get there.”
When Andy Gresh asked Jacobs whether there was a ‘massive divide’ between the team and Swayman, Jacobs said no.
“If there is any unfinished business from the summer, that's it,” he said.
Another significant piece of news for the Bruins this offseason was that their TD Garden roommate, the Boston Celtics, would be getting a new majority owner.
When asked about rumors of a new ownership group potentially moving to a new arena, Jacobs, whose family owns the TD Garden, said, “I haven’t heard that one.”
“I’m very good friends with the current Celtics ownership. I’ve had conversations with both Wyc and, frankly, the majority of the minority owners from that group. We have a very good rapport and have had one for 20-plus years. I would expect that whoever the new owner is will come in, and we’ll talk about it.
“The Celtics have signed a lease with the TD Garden for another 12 years or so, so I don’t expect that they’ll be moving any time soon.”
On whether the Jacobs family would get involved in the bidding process for the team, he said, “I’d love to have a part of them.”
Before Jacobs’ interview ended, he announced a $25,000 donation to the Jimmy Fund.