Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney has done ample work reshaping the black and gold roster this NHL offseason. Whether much of that work - trading Milan Lucic and Dougie Hamilton, acquiring Zac Rinaldo for a third-round pick and drafting three players in the first-round many expected to be available much later - is viewed as welcome change by the fanbase, is neither here nor there. What's important is that Sweeney, likely under the direction of Bruins president Cam Neely, has begun to rebuild the Bruins in what he and Neely perceive to be a more ideal image.
While most of the heavy lifting is likely done, there do remain troublesome areas on the Boston roster - whether they're of Sweeney's own making is again, something of a moot point - and it seems the newly-minted yet somehow already embattled GM hasn't ruled out further potential additions, most notably along a defensive lineup that will be looking to replace not just Hamilton, but Matt Bartkowski as well.
"You always want to have the best group that you can possibly have. There's probably an element of unknown because we have some guys that are going to push [for spots], and we have waiver decisions...certain decisions that are going to impact the decision overall. There are a couple of free agents that we're still having conversations with that feel might improve our club if the financial component works," said Sweeney at the close of Bruins Development Camp, via Joe Haggerty of CSNNewEngland.com. "I'm not going to stop having those conversations because it might end up being the right thing to do. Matt Irwin helps provide a lot of depth to our overall grouping, and had a very good year last year while providing some offense to our group.
"But we have some younger players that at some point in time have to be given an opportunity if you believe in them. For me, that's an exciting part of the game. It's a little bit of the unknown...I'm not going to blow smoke in any direction and say that it's not [an unknown] because it absolutely is. Would a coach like to have four guys [on defense] that had been to the All-Star game the previous year? Yeah, I'm sure he would say to check that box right off. But at times it just doesn't happen that way. When you've got five players returning to your hockey club that have played and had success, then I think you have your foundation there."
Irwin is a depth addition and his presence helps offset Bartkowksi's departure to Vancouver, but otherwise there's a lot of hope and elbow grease behind Sweeney's approach to his blueline. Torey Krug is the only bonafide puck-mover and while he seems more than capable, that's a lot of pressure to place on a player who only recently celebrated his 24th birthday. Zdeno Chara is inching ever closer to 40 and Dennis Seidenberg isn't far behind. Chara's health will be a question now and forever until he calls it quits and there's no certainty Krug, Kevan Miller or Adam McQuaid will suddenly become top-four defenseman.
With only about $4 million in cap space, Sweeney's options on the open market are limited. Cody Franson would seem to be a fit from an on-ice standpoint, but making the money work will be difficult and his struggles after being flipped to Nashville last season make his high price tag even more questionable. As Haggerty notes, it may take a little bargain shopping in the Bruins are to add defensive help between now and the season, perhaps in the form of Marek Zidlicky or Christian Ehrhoff.
Ehrhoff, 33, played poorly for the Penguins last season and was not brought back by Pittsburgh GM Jim Rutherford. In just 49 games he managed only three goals and 11 assists. A change of scenery and a different system could do wonders for a player who was once capable of 40-plus points a season. Then again, he hasn't managed more than 33 points in an NHL campaign over the past five years.
In short, Sweeney seems to be playing something of a dangerous game with the Bruins defensive corps headed into the first season of his tenure. Zach Trotman, Joe Morrow or Colin Miller could develop and finally make the jump to the NHL, assuaging fears across New England and making the Boston blueline look much deeper and more potential-filled. Then again, at this juncture, it seems just as likely that the opposite could happen and the Bruins first season under Sweeney may be undone by a bevy of offseason decisions that have left the team in a position where too much could go wrong too easily, sinking the season before it ever really begins.
