Promoted to the top job in 2015, Sweeney’s first steps were to move out discontented Dougie Hamilton to the Flames, long with ditching Milan Lucic’s overpriced cap hit to the Kings. Decent deals in both cases, but they could be classified more as remedies than trades. Neither returned immediate, impactful roster help beyond the Colin Miller addition from the Lucic swap. Miller had his moments, but not many.
Seven years gone by, Sweeney has not pulled the trigger on a deal centered on moving current key roster components (of the Hamilton, Lucic caliber) for equal key assets that proved immediate agents of change, or foundational roster pieces.
This could be the summer Sweeney is forced to alter his approach and take some bold risks, with an eye focused on acquiring a needed top center — no matter Patrice Bergeron’s career decision. The need is acute even if Bergeron stays, all the more severe if he goes.
Again, the June draft won’t deliver a fix for 2022-23. For the moment, the UFA market has three interesting centers in Nazem Kadri, Claude Giroux, and Evgeni Malkin. Their collective cap hit this season was just over $22 million.
The best fit among those three could be Kadri, who posted a career season (28-59—87) with the high-flying Avalanche, but it is almost unfathomable that the fiery (combustible?) ex-Maple Leaf would be targeted as part of the fix for the Bruins’ issue at 1-2 center. But the need is great, meaning Kadri, 32 at next season’s start, cannot be dismissed out of hand.
Sweeney has a ready-to-ship asset in Jake DeBrusk, the left winger’s trade request dating to November. The other name Sweeney could consider, though it would hurt from the front office suits down to the TD Garden suites, would be defenseman Brandon Carlo.
Together, the 25-year-olds, each with proven NHL résumés, would enable Sweeney to enter the trade market in pursuit of a legit, young (maximum age 24-27), potentially primo center.
The Blackhawks, for example, need proven roster parts and they are desperate for a change in fan narrative after their disgraceful bungling of the Kyle Beach case. As of this writing, they have yet to come to terms on a contract extension for 21-year-old Kirby Dach, the 6-foot-4-inch, 200-pound pivot chosen No. 3 in the 2019 draft (behind center Jack Hughes and winger Kaapo Kakko).
Dach projects as a No. 1, and yes, it’s debatable if he has shown enough yet (59 points in 152 games) for the Bruins to consider parting with DeBrusk and Carlo — a top-six forward and top-four defenseman, respectively. However, it offers an example of the kind of discussion Sweeney could have right now for a high-end young center that he otherwise would have zero chance of landing. It takes assets to acquire assets.
The Bruins have not had a No. 1 center of Dach’s size and potential career arc since Joe Thornton was swapped to San Jose in 2005. Which also serves as a reminder that 1) Big deals can fall out of the sky and 2.) They typically mean yielding bona fide roster assets. Debate here, if you will, the merits and lasting impact of Marco Sturm, Wayne Primeau, and Brad Stuart.
The Bruins do not have kids ready to graduate into the No. 1-2 center roles. Not Jack Studnicka. Not Johnny Beecher. Not Marc McLaughlin. If Bergeron walks, that leaves Erik Haula and Charlie Coyle as the best immediate candidates to pivot the top six, knocking heads night to night with the 60 or so best centers across the league. Results project to be, shall we say, uneven.
The issue that plagued the lineup in recent knockouts under Bruce Cassidy’s watch has become repetitive: a lack of timely goal scoring, and lack of overall scoring,…
Read More: Early playoff exit means Bruins may need to be bold in rebuilding roster,