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The front office of the Boston Bruins made one thing clear this week: there is more work to be done.
Both Bruins president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney mentioned bringing in speed and skill at the end-of-season press conference on Wednesday. While they were happy with the culture and identity that the team built, as well as making the playoffs, there is more to be done before the Bruins are contenders for the Stanley Cup.
If they want to address speed and skill, they will have to look for a trade partner.
Gone are the summers of 2006 – or 2024, when they tried again. Free agency has run thin. The salary cap has gone up, and players have been staying home and signing extensions.
Cam Neely also said that “we don’t have a true number 1C.”
That will not appear in free agency – not this year.
At the trade deadline, Sweeney mentioned that there was a lot of exploration. Whether or not that sets up for “the fireworks that sometimes surround the draft” is to be determined. Because the Maple Leafs won the lottery, the Bruins now own four first-round picks in the next two years, including unprotected firsts from the Maple Leafs and Panthers.
“The ping pong balls dictated that (the Leafs pick) wasn’t going to be this year, so we have to have everything in play in terms of how we continue to improve our club, and we have that mindset,” Sweeney said on Wednesday. “We didn’t sit back last year and say, ‘This is a five-year process.’ We just said we need to attack these areas. We need to be a competitive team, and then we’re going to allow some of our players to grow. And I used a couple of younger players in that regard, but we bounced back in some areas, and we’re happy about [that], but now we have a lot of work to do to continue to get better.”
When Neely said that the Bruins did not have a 1C, he was speaking to the development of James Hagens and Fraser Minten. Minten just completed his first NHL season, and Hagens played in five games across the regular and postseason.
They both have the potential to be the Bruins’ 1C, but development takes time. Hagens also entered the league as a winger.
Bona fide number one centers are hard to find, and they do not come for cheap.
The Bruins invested heavily in Elias Lindholm, paying him $7.75 million per year. He has not lived up to expectations, and he has been dealing with a recurring back injury.
Having extra draft capital puts the Bruins in a position to improve their top six through trade.
Names like Auston Matthews (long-shot) have circulated in trade rumors, as hasRobert Thomas. Both come at a steep price, and for good reason. Matthews is a franchise-altering talent, and Thomas is a proven 1C with term and a team-friendly ($8.125M until 2031) cap hit.
The Bruins have the assets to entertain a trade for “speed and skill,” while also looking for a 1C. Though they may have in-house candidates, they will not be able to find a long-term answer on July 1 – unless it is a trade.
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The post Bruins Will Have to Trade for Speed and Skill appeared first on Boston Hockey Now.
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