by Bob Morello
Bruins GM on NHL Trade Deadline
With the NHL Trade Deadline set for Friday at 3pm Eastern Standard Time, Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney held a press conference to answer questions for the media, regarding his thoughts and ideas. Sweeney opened up with trades and move possibilities being unlike the many moves made last trade deadline: “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 hockey club, if possible, and exploring opportunities to do so with the intention, and obviously giving our team that has done a pretty good job so far. You know, our coaches, players, staff, attention to the power play, some of the areas that we identified going into this year and being much, much more competitive. We’d like to give them a bump, because they’ve earned that, but it’s an eye towards, you know, obviously this year, but moving forward as well.” In regards to the success of some moves he made last year, Sweeney mentioned: “Players [Marat] Khusnutdinov and [Fraser] Minten and guys that have jumped onto our team, have done a really good job. Those necessarily aren’t high profile players at that time, but they were important pieces to continue to add to our group.” The question came up regarding the possible trading of current players to gain long-term talent, Sweeney was clear with: “Trading current players on our roster? Again, it really comes down to what the other team is going to look for, some are hockey trades, and some are futures. 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, I think we’re taking a little more pragmatic approach to, you know, to improving our club now and certainly moving forward.” Sweeney had high praise for Head Coach Marco Sturm, pointing out: “All the things that were sort of playing out during the interview process with Marco have borne out. Very, very passionate about the game, wants to communicate with his players, has conviction and how the team is supposed to play. He wants to play a certain way, and the players are responding to that. So I think it’s been a healthy three quarters of the year, or two thirds, wherever we’re at, but there’s a long way to go. And I think he understands that, and he continues to absorb and learn and we’re excited about where Marco can lead this group.”
Looking at the future of the team, Sweeney held nothing back, commenting: “I think we’re in a really good spot moving forward. We have flexibility, we have younger players that likely will come online, and we have some draft capital that we can explore, and sometimes that presents, that deal doesn’t happen at the deadline, may happen at the draft or shortly thereafter.” Concern regarding UFAs presently on the roster (Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke), Sweeney explained: “Well, we play 11 games in 19 days coming up, so we’re in a position that we’ve got a couple unhappy guys that have been out of the lineup on the back end. But chances are, you’re going to need depth between now and the end of the year, most teams are playing 15, 16, and 17, games in the month of March. The schedule is condensed. You’re going to need the depth. So I’m not just in a hurry to usher people out the door that have helped us get to the point that we are right here.” When queried about recent draft picks, Sweeney touched on both James Hagens and Dean Letourneau, beginning with Hagens: “It’s an easy lift to have so many guys at [Boston College] to go over and spend some extra time there. His production is still really good. He’s played a lot more on the wing, which could be an easier entry point for a young player in the National Hockey League. That, again, remains to be seen. We drafted him as a center, he can play center, but now he’s playing both sides. So I think that adds to the versatility.” Touching on Letourneau and his growth since last year, Sweeney remarked: “Well, hopefully I was looking at it and saying…people are talking about it being a wasted year, and I don’t believe that. It was up to Dean [Letourneau] to put the work in that, first of all, that was necessary to be able to have the type of year he was having. And he did a lot of that, and he continues to do a lot of that. And it’s obviously been a productive year.”
Asked about the importance of being a playoff team, and the organizations long term plan, Sweeney summed up the press conference with: “I don’t think we’ve ever deviated from the fact that we want to be a playoff team. Last year, we set out, acknowledged our shortcomings, changed our course, and aggressively pursued the ability to get back in the hunt, this year. We tried to do it this summer, we explored different opportunities that maybe would on the surface, look at our goal scoring, but our group has done a really good job to provide the offense that might, on the surface again, not have been there. Power Play came back online, so we addressed some of the areas that we felt we needed to. We still have work to do. So making the playoffs has undoubtedly been the goal. It was the goal prior to the start of last year. We fell woefully short, and as you referenced, we changed course, we drew up a plan that said we need to attack and we need to pull off, you know a start to getting us back to where we need to be and get to. We’re not there yet, we have work to do. We’ve put ourselves in a decent spot, we’ve got a long way to go. It’s going to be a hell of a competitive race, but our intentions are to be a playoff team and then once you get in, you know, obviously it’s up to the group, but that’s our intention.”