By: Tom Calautti | Follow me on Twitter @TCalauttis
Don Sweeney is off the hot seat…for now. Yesterday, the Boston Bruins announced a contract extension for their general manager, signing him for two more years through the 2027-28 season.
In the press release published on NHL.com, President Cam Neely lauded his former teammate’s performance at this year’s trade deadline and expressed his excitement over the team’s future. “I am confident in the plan (Sweeney) has followed these past few months – and excited for what’s to come for our team.”
The extension comes amid the organization’s ongoing search for its fourth head coach in four seasons. More specifically, it follows a story from Jimmy Murphy of RG Media, who reported that murkiness surrounding Sweeney’s future was impacting the ability to retain a new bench boss.
I’m not here to champion for Sweeney or assert that he’s the right man for the job (if you want to read about all his accolades and accomplishments, or why he’s the right man for the job, read the press release). What I am here to say is that at this exact juncture in time, the only play the Boston Bruins had was to extend Sweeney.
If you look at his history at the helm, Sweeney had had his share of wins and losses. But if you break his team’s performance down year-by-year, you see that there’s no sense in firing him at this point.
He stumbled out of the gate with a historically bad 2015 draft. Cam Neely acknowledged at the end-of-season press conference that the organization put Sweeney in a difficult spot that year. Regardless of the results, one bad draft rarely results in a firing for a first-year GM. The seasons that followed 2015 allowed the GM to build some cache and up his stock.
The Bruins improved every season under Sweeney through the first four years of his tenure. They missed the playoffs in ’15-16, lost in the first round in ’16-17, made it to the second round in 17-18, and reached the pinnacle of their ascension in ’18-19 when they made it to Game Seven of the Stanley Cup Finals.
Then came the regression that started to irk Bruins fans everywhere. Boston fell to Tampa Bay in the bubble in 2020, suffered a second-round beating at the hands of the Islanders in 2021, and lost to an underwhelming Hurricanes team in 2022.
That was the point where this organization, if they had the gumption, could have made a move on Sweeney. An aging core, three disappointing playoff exits, and a lack of drafting/development are usually a recipe for dismissal for NHL executives. But he found his second wind once Sweeney survived the ‘axe’ in the spring of 2022.
The fact of the matter is Sweeney’s job was saved during two seasons, 22-23 and 23-24. By assembling the greatest regular-season team in league history (a mere year after an ugly first-round playoff loss), he bought himself time with both management and the fanbase. Despite that squad’s playoff failings, it proved to management that he can identify talent at the NHL level and build a contender with an aging core.
Then, in 23-24, he took a team stripped of Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci (among others) and put together a makeshift, bridge roster that got to game six of the Eastern Conference semifinals against the eventual Stanley Cup Champions. He lost a hall-of-famer, Bruins legend, two highly skilled forwards (Taylor Hall and Tyler Bertuzzi), and more, and still built a team that competed late into the playoffs.
This 2024-25 year was bad; there are no ifs, ands, or buts about it. But at this point, it doesn’t make sense to head into 2025-26 with a lame duck GM. Ownership may have backed itself into a proverbial corner by defending Sweeney throughout this season, and because of that, it makes no sense to replace the GM at this point.
Let’s face it: The Bruins are at a crossroads. They can either retool and slide back into contentiousness or miss the boat and slip further into mediocrity. You may not believe in him as an executive, but you have to admit that the Bruins need stability as they head into the unknown. And right now, whether you like it or not, Sweeney presents the best option moving forward.
Following last night’s Panthers-Hurricanes game, the team now has five first-round picks and four second-round picks over the next three seasons (thanks to Sweeney’s nifty work at the trade deadline). They can’t risk another catastrophe like 2015, and changing a GM at this point in a retool only makes repeating that nightmare more of a possibility.
The organization needs stability, and it was in no position to find a qualified and competent candidate between now and one of the biggest drafts in franchise history.
You may not like the decision, and you’re not obligated to, but the only real move the Boston Bruins had was extending Don Sweeney. Keeping him around gives the organization a clear and stable future, while also putting him on notice that he’s run out of lives.
The Bruins fulfilled their side of the deal and provided a steady runway for management to make their moves. Now it’s time for Sweeney to hold up his end of the bargain and get this team back on track.
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