Don Sweeney Has Already Dug His Own Grave With The Boston Bruins And Their Fans
June 26, 2015 may forever be known as the worst day in Boston Bruins history.
Some are calling it the second doing of the Boston Massacre. Others are claiming this was the “Boston Tear Party” and there is plenty more to be shed. Bruins nation and their fans are seeking answers to what just went down the past 24 hours leading up and through the first round of the 2015 NHL Entry Draft.
The Bruins made three trades leading up to the draft that are as follows:
-Carl Soderberg’s rights to the Colorado Avalanche for a 6th round draft pick in 2016
-Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for the 14th, 45th and 52nd overall picks in this year’s draft
-Milan Lucic to the Los Angeles Kings for Martin Jones (G), prospect Colin Miller (D), and the 13th overall pick in this year’s draft.
The Carl Soderberg trade was a no-brainer. The Bruins were not going to resign the centerman who was rumored to be seeking 5 million/per in a new contract, especially with how tight the Bruins were up against the cap. So they did the smartest other possible move and got a pick for the player. The Avalanche went on to sign him to 4.75 mil/per over 5 years with a limited full no-trade clause the first two years and a limited one the last three years of the deal.
Skipping over to the Milan Lucic trade which most fans felt was inevitable as once again the Bruins being tied up in cap troubles and the recent three year downward trend of Lucic’s play didn’t make this all that much of a shocker. The most value you could get for Lucic would be trading him this offseason and management was on par with that logic. All-in-all the value back was decent aside from the Bruins retaining nearly half of Lucic’s lonesome year left on his current contract. Colin Miller looks like a potentially good prospect to throw into the defensemen pool and Matin Jones serving as backup to Rask if it gets that far would be a far wiser choice than watching Subban be thrown in before getting some more conditioning time in the AHL.
However when we take a look at the Dougie Hamilton trade, we’re left scratching our heads a little in the aftermath. Simply put, why not get the best possible value back for what was going to be your future franchise #1 defenseman? Instead the Bruins felt the need to re-sign Adam McQuaid to a 4 year deal at 2.75 mil/per because apparently solid defense isn’t the plan anymore for the black and gold down the road.
The Bruins set a record by becoming the first team to ever have three consecutive first round picks in a row with the 13th, 14th and 15th picks of this year’s draft. We all thought they had it lined up to sneak down into the top 5 if not cut a deal with the Arizona Coyotes for the 3rd overall. Yet once again the fans were let down by piss poor management as Sweeney in his presser before the draft made mention of all intention to trade up but could not do so because the asking price was “too high”.
In the end the Bruins stuck to their three first round picks selecting individuals scouted outside the top-20 international scouting rankings. Which again shouldn’t come as a surprise since it looks ever more clear that the Bruins only did their homework on picks for the second round prior to the acquisition of two additional picks in the first and thus went on to select the players they felt they had to have as opposed to the obvious talent still available right in front of them.
No. 13 pick: Jakub Zboril, Defenseman Team: Saint John Sea Dogs, QMJHL Height, Weight: 6-foot-1, 184 pounds Stats: 13 goals and 20 assists (33 points) in 44 games
No. 14 pick: Jake DeBrusk, Left Wing Team: Swift Current Broncos, WHL Height, Weight: 6 feet, 174 pounds Stats: 42 goals and 39 assists (81 points) in 72 games
No. 15 pick: Zachary Senyshyn, Right Wing Team: Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, WHL Height, Weight: 6-foot-1, 192 pounds Stats: 26 goals and 19 assists (45 points) in 66 games
Bruins GM Don Sweeney: “It was a long day but an exciting day.”
— Joe McDonald (@ESPNJoeyMac) June 27, 2015
Exciting day Sweeney, really? Maybe it’s exciting for teams like Montreal, Tampa, Detroit and dare I say the Sabres are looking better than the Bruins just about now….
It’s safe to say Sweeney certainly got the last laugh yesterday when it comes to the fans. Are we in for more shenanigans through the rest of this draft and into free agency? Will this add-up in the end and somehow make the Boston Bruins a better and more competitive team next year? Should you lose all faith now in Bruins management to be better suited to deal with heartbreak when the time comes?
The answers will become clearer as the season approaches but one piece of advice I can give now is to enjoy your summer for what it’s worth. This is just the beginning of what quite possibly could become the darkest chapters in Boston Bruins history or, gulp….even worse.
Igor Burdetskiy
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