BOSTON — Charlie Jacobs is confused. Before the start of 2024-25, the Boston Bruins management team informed the CEO they had constructed a championship contender.
Half a season later, the Bruins are hanging on for dear life.
“There’s been some trying moments for sure,” Jacobs said on Wednesday. “To watch this team play, know what it’s capable of and see it before, then the next night not be able to do it, it’s a head-scratcher, for sure.”
Regardless of how the Bruins fare in terms of postseason qualification, Jacobs made one thing clear: He has faith in Don Sweeney and Cam Neely to do what’s right for the club — both this year’s version and ones to follow. Whether that means buying precisely or selling wholesale before the March 7 trade deadline, the general manager and president have the green light from their boss to execute either plan.
“If history is any indication of what we can anticipate, if you look at Don Sweeney’s stewardship and Cam Neely’s stewardship since 2015 since Don took over, we’ve made the playoffs eight of the 10 years,” Jacobs said. “I’m not going to measure success in making the Stanley Cup playoffs. Let’s be very clear about that. Our goal is to win the Stanley Cup. But you can’t win the Stanley Cup if you don’t make it to the playoffs. Our team has done that for the past eight years. I hope we do it again this year for our ninth.”
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Sweeney and Neely have the backing, unlike ex-coach Jim Montgomery, to see the course correction through. How they proceed remains to be seen.
The No. 1 factor in decision-making will be how the Bruins perform over the next month. If they gain more traction, Sweeney can pin down an extension for Brad Marchand. The 36-year-old is second in team scoring (16 goals, 35 points) for the third straight season. As much as the Bruins would prefer a series of one-year deals, he deserves term.
Organizational legacy is important to Marchand. But he has also declared he will not call it quits until his tank is empty.
“I was talking to some former players, some of the greatest of all time,” Marchand said at Wednesday’s Boston Bruins Foundation gala. “To be in that presence and see some of the guys that have come and gone, they’re not just some of the best in our organization, but some of the best to ever play the game. Some of the best leaders to be part of the game.”
If the Bruins bottom out, though, Sweeney may have to consider trading Marchand to accelerate the rebuild. The list of interested parties would be long. Marchand would be Sweeney’s best chip toward adding at least a first-round pick. Neither party prefers this route.
As for other trade assets, Trent Frederic, who will also be unrestricted, could also net attractive futures. Frederic, moved back to the wing, scored a back-post rush goal in Tuesday’s 6-2 win over the Tampa Bay Lightning.
The power forward, No. 11 on The Athletic’s trade board, also settled a score by fighting Emil Lilleberg. In their previous game, Lilleberg high-sticked Mark Kastelic and fought the fourth-liner. Kastelic has been out with a concussion.
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If Sweeney identifies deeper problems, he will have to think about dealing players with term. Charlie Coyle ($5.25 million annually through 2026), Pavel Zacha ($4.75 million, 2027) and Brandon Carlo ($4.1 million, 2027) would be the most likely trade candidates. All have partial no-trade protection.
As for targets, it makes no sense for Sweeney to return to the blueprint of 2023, when he acquired Tyler Bertuzzi, Garnet Hathaway and Dmitry Orlov. All were pending UFAs. None re-signed. The Bruins ceded, among other assets, two first-round picks and one second-rounder.
Instead, Sweeney will prefer players with term. Last year, he acquired Andrew Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets. Peeke was in the first season of a three-year contract. The Bruins have been satisfied with the 26-year-old’s performance on the No. 3 pair. Similarly, Sweeney has acquired Coyle, Zacha, Kastelic and Joonas Korpisalo in recent years, all under team control.
For the past nine months, Sweeney has been evaluating Canadian players as Team Canada’s GM for the upcoming 4 Nations Face-Off. He has come across possible targets as part of his side gig.
“I feel like he’s got a pretty good pulse on what’s out there in the market in terms of player personnel that might be available to us,” Jacobs said. “Every time I call him — we speak quite a bit — he’s always looking and always shopping. So I have faith.”
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Given the emptiness of the Bruins’ futures bin, Sweeney will not be eager to deal youngsters such as Matt Poitras. In fact, it may serve the Bruins well to give the 20-year-old center, who assisted on Frederic’s goal against Tampa, more freedom.
At the beginning of 2024-25, Montgomery was wary of giving Poitras generous shifts, and rightfully so. The second-year pro is a work in progress away from the puck. Playoff contenders have to be mindful about on-the-job learning with young players.
But if the Bruins are not legitimate Cup contenders, interim coach Joe Sacco can be more forgiving about sheltering Poitras. It’s possible he could grow into a top-two center and assume some of the production that Elias Lindholm has yet to provide.
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Similarly, Fabian Lysell has the speed and skill to score some of the goals left behind by Jake DeBrusk. Lysell has been in Providence since his NHL debut on Dec. 28. Like Poitras, the 21-year-old right wing has much to learn defensively.
“It would be beneficial for the organization to see where those guys are at. There’s no question,” Neely said. “We’ve been really patient with the group up here with the big club.”
That patience is running short.
(Photo of Brad Marchand and Trent Frederic: Matthew J. Lee / Getty Images)
