Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney does not plan on putting his fans through the trouble of last year’s deadline selloff.
With the Bruins mildly comfortable in a playoff spot, Sweeney agrees with the notion that his team has earned the right not to be torn down and sold off to the highest bidder. But speaking with the media following Monday’s practice at Warrior Ice Arena, the veteran Boston executive didn’t exactly sound ready to rush out and pay the premiums the trade deadline often requires.
“In all likelihood, it’ll be a little different than last year, not necessarily as aggressive and active, but we would like to continue to improve our club, if possible,” Sweeney said. “We’d like to give them a bump, because they’ve earned that. But it’s [also] an eye towards this year, but moving forward as well. That’s what our intentions are as we go to the deadline, and that may or may not come to fruition.”
To this point, the Bruins have appeared involved in the trade market in search of some help on defense. The Bruins were in on Rasmus Andersson prior to his trade to Vegas, and have been linked to the Blues’ Justin Faulk, Calgary’s MacKenzie Weegar (whose interest from Boston dates back almost half a decade), and even the Flyers’ Rasmus Ristolainen. The Bruins also have a defenseman of their own (Andrew Peeke) that they could move between now and Friday’s deadline, making this the most interesting spot for Sweeney’s club.
“With 11 games in 19 days, a lot of times you run into problems on depth with D,” Sweeney acknowledged, almost quick to downplay any talk of trading defensemen away without bringing another in. “Jonathan Aspirot is on our team as a result of that. [Victor Soderstrom] has played games, [Michael Callahan] played games, [Frederic] Brunet’s had a really good season, so we feel comfortable that we have adequate depth.
“But you just never know. Now, moving forward, with Andrew [Peeke] expiring, we’re playing Mason [Lohrei] on the right side right now. I think we have to be realistic that our group probably needs to be supplemented in that position.”
But for Sweeney and the Bruins, it all seems to come back to one idea… a hockey trade.
The Bruins have every reason to sell off pending UFAs like Peeke and Viktor Arvidsson. But the Bruins are clearly afraid of taking a step backwards when they don’t have to. And especially with the way the team has performed for first-year head coach Marco Sturm. The Bruins believe in the ‘competitive’ culture they’ve tried to re-establish, and simply subtracting without adding to the NHL roster seems to be of limited interest to the club.
“It really comes down to what the other team is going to look for, some are hockey trades, some are futures,” Sweeney said when asked about the potential of ‘selling’ this deadline. “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, you know, for all parties.
“I just think we’re taking a little more pragmatic approach to improving our club now and certainly moving forward.”
