Despite having two Prince of Wales Trophies and a Stanley Cup since 2010 the boys in black that call “Beantown” home are full swing into a modern day rebuild. Just a couple of weeks into his new job with the organization, former Assistant GM, Don Sweeney has taken his promotion and decided to blow up an underachieving team from last season that just missed the playoffs.
Before the team could even add any free agents their roster already has taken new shape. Carl Soderberg, Milian Lucic and Doug Hamilton are all on the way out of town and many are wondering how Boston plans to replace them. The trade value on the Bruins’ return investments is nearly zilch in the short term, but their “potential” returns are beginning to run over. Soderberg was traded for a sixth round pick, which appears to be not so bad at first. He was a RFA with no guarantee payoff if he jumped ship. However, the fact that he signed a 5 year $23.75 million dollar contract with Colorado, almost instantly, gives the impression keeping Soderberg was never a priority for GM Sweeney.
Lucic and Hamilton’s trades are even more puzzling. Lucic, a fan favorite and big contributor was dealt to The L.A. Kings for a 1st round pick and Goalie Martin Jones. Jones was then traded to the San Jose Sharks for prospect forward Sean Kuraly and a 1st rounder next year. Three prospects for one legitimate power forward that can control the physicality of a game, needless to say Boston fans are still wondering about this one and may continue to for a long time.
Doug Hamilton was exchanged for three picks all in the 1st two rounds of the draft from the Calgary Flames. If you take a good look at these trades you will see that what the Bruins got back was a fist full of draft picks in the top rounds for the next two years. Boston took 6 prospects in the first 60 picks at this year’s draft: including for the first time ever 3 picks consecutively in the 1st round.
#13-Jakub Zboril-age: 18-Pos: Def.
#14-Jake Debrusk-age: 19Pos: Fwd.
15-Zachary Senysgyn Age: 18 Pos: Fwd.
Rumors spread wildly suggesting that maybe GM Sweeney was trying to package some combination of the three picks into another deal in order to move up in the draft to make a run at Noah Hanifin or Ivan Provorov. When these deals did not materialize the Bruins were forced to draft off the top of their boards. While no one is saying that Zboril, Debrusk and Senysgyn can’t one day become a big part of a championship puzzle, what can be said is they cannot do that this upcoming season.
Most troubling for Boston fans is the fall out after the Hamilton trade to Calgary. Lucic went quietly to a new team, much like Soderberg, no fuss and no hard feelings but not with Hamilton. After reports surfaced he had turned down a 6 year $33 million dollar contract with Boston, anonymous sources from within the locker room began a smear campaign against the 22 year old defenseman. They called him “uppity”, a “loner” and claimed he “never fit in”. While these descriptions paint Hamilton in a certain light Boston fans can’t help but to feel déjà vu all over again.
Ironically the #9 pick used to draft Hamilton in 2011 was acquired in a trade to get rid of another locker room misfit in Boston, Phil Kessel. Also acquired in the Kessel deal was the draft pick that brought in, superstar in the making, Tyler Seguin. Who also was involved in a blockbuster trade. Seguin was dealt to Dallas behind a very similar disguise. Rumors he did not fit in with teammates in the locker room. Young, talented and brought in, given a home with the team and yet they all weren’t the “right guy” for the team despite on-ice success. Harder to believe still, is how with so many moving pieces how have the Bruins stayed competitive?
There have been a few constants with the organization that deserve some of the credit for the success over the past few years. Starting 1st with Captain Zdeno Chara, a truly menacing force at the blue line. Has it been his no non-sense approach toward the game though that has exiled so many young stars? At 38, it seems along with fellow blue line companion Dennis Seidenberg (34) both who missed large chunks of the season in ‘14-’15 due to knee injuries, the proverbial time clock has started to countdown. How much time does Chara have left? Should the team be building a roster or defensive corp. around him?
Owner Jeremy M. Jacobs and team President Cam Neely made the decision to trust Don Sweeney as GM, and they replaced Peter Chiarelli with his former Assistant. But they also retained the services of Coach Claude Julien. Perhaps they trust the direction of the boat just not the man hiring the deck hands? The message, it would seem, came in loud and clear it was time for Boston to establish a long term future and in order to do so they must clean house.
Sweeney is leaving his stamp on this team with the hope it will one day lead to another Cup for Boston. He resigned Adam Mcquaid, brought in Zac Rinaldo and has cap room to spare for free agents. Boston has young talent that may crack the top 6 in Brett Connolly and Loui Eriksson developing. It is hard to believe a rebuild in any city wouldn’t be better without a Lucic or Hamilton acting as pillars. Sweeney does, however, have two 29 year old forwards that Boston fans hope can make the locker room more of an “up and comer” friendly atmosphere. David Krejci and (heir apparent to the “C” on Chara’s sweater) Patrice Bergeron are at the center of this reconstruction. The two hope to lead the team down Sweeney’s path to the light at the end of the tunnel. Bruins fans are just hoping it’s not actually a freight train.
Born and raised in Mesa, Arizona and introduced to hockey at an early age by his brother-in-law Will was benefitted by the Winnipeg Jets move to the valley. As a teen he joined the AZ Desert Youth Hockey Association (DYHA) competing in the Minor Division before promoting to the Premiere League Tier II Division. He also played at the famous ‘Spectrum Arena’ facilities for Inline Hockey Association Arizona (IHAAZ) in Chandler as a part of team ‘GEAR DRIVE’ a top travel program. He continues to participate in Coyote Adult Hockey Leagues in both Chandler and Scottsdale. He attended Mesa Community College and studied Business and Creative Writing while on a Journalism Scholarship. The father of 3 is currently an Operations Manager for ELITE PERSONAL TRAINING AND GYM in Mesa, AZ.