Just one year after making major moves to send key players to division rivals at the trade deadline, the Boston Bruins are back to being buyers.
Last winter, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney traded then-captain Brad Marchand to the Florida Panthers and sent defenceman Brandon Carlo to the Toronto Maple Leafs as a streak of eight straight playoff appearances came to an end.
This year, the Bruins are sitting in the final wild-card spot and Sweeney is hoping to boost the team’s chances of locking up a spot over the final month of the season.
“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 Monday. “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.”
Bruins players have been outspoken on hoping to have a chance to push for the postseason amid their bounce-back year.
“I’m not just in a hurry to usher people out the door who have helped us get to the point that we are right here,” Sweeney said. “I respect when Morgan Geekie and players speak out that they would like the opportunity to continue to move forward with their group, because they’ve done a good job.”
“I don’t think we’ve ever deviated [from] the fact that we want to be a playoff team,” he added. “Making the playoffs has undoubtedly been the goal.”
Sweeney revealed that adding defensive depth is on his wish list, but after restocking following years of buying last year, he will be cautious not to overspend.
“We’re going to explore them and see what presents, [but that] doesn’t mean we’re going to sacrifice some of the things that we went through last year to try and address organizational depth, both at prospect level, draft capital level and at the NHL level,” Sweeney said. “And I think that we’ve done a decent job there, but it’s only a one year snapshot, and we have to have an eye towards you know, what our intentions were back then.”
The Bruins acquired a conditional pick that turned into a first-rounder for Marchand and received a first-round pick and forward Fraser Minten from the Maple Leafs for Carlo.
Minten has been a contributor in the team’s turnaround this season, posting 14 goals and 29 points in 59 games as an NHL rookie.
Entering play Tuesday, the Bruins have a two-point cushion on the Washington Capitals with three games in hand and three-point lead on the Columbus Blue Jackets, who are equal at 59 games played. Boston will face the Pittsburgh Penguins on Tuesday.
“As a player, you are just so caught up in the moment. You’re trying to perform every night at your best to help the team win. That’s why management is management, and we are players. Every year we earn it, they give us a chance to improve the group,” star forward David Pastrnak said. “We earned the spot we are in as a group, and we need to continue to work.”
