The GM worked this 12 months on an expiring agreement, which would have manufactured him an unrestricted cost-free agent on July 13. Team president Cam Neely mentioned May perhaps 19 he wanted to “sit down with Don in the subsequent day or two and hopefully hammer a thing out,” but it evidently has taken right until now to do so.
At the time, Neely stated he wished to assess the 2021-22 year in advance of committing to his lame-duck GM. The two had an comprehending that he would proceed to test to make improvements to the club.
“We experienced a lot of adjustments very last offseason,” Neely said. “I desired to see how that performed out. January, February, March have been definitely good months for us. The staff actually arrived collectively. We experienced a great deal of depth. And I was satisfied with what he did at the deadline.”
Customers of Bruins administration were not readily available for remark right after the deal was introduced. Sweeney and Neely are scheduled to speak to reporters July 6 at the NHL draft in Montreal.
In a statement Monday, Bruins CEO Charlie Jacobs famous that the workforce has been 1 of the “winningest franchises in the league and a perennial playoff contender” less than Sweeney’s leadership.
“While we understand there is perform to be done to obtain the best intention of bringing the Stanley Cup again to Boston,” Jacobs claimed, “I’m confident that Don’s dedication to staying most effective-in-course on and off the ice will aid us climb that mountain after yet again.”
Sweeney, the eighth GM in franchise historical past, replaced the fired Peter Chiarelli in May possibly 2015. In his 7 seasons in the corner business office, the Bruins are 313-162-61 (.584), and have averaged 105 details per 82 games. They designed the Stanley Cup Last in 2019 — when Sweeney was named NHL GM of the Calendar year — and reached the playoffs in each and every of the very last 6 seasons. In the Jap Meeting, only Pittsburgh, Toronto, and Washington have a playoff streak of six seasons or longer.
The Bruins, having said that, are coming off a initially-round exit at the arms of the Hurricanes, and two second-spherical exits before that.
Sweeney’s trades have mostly labored out — most not too long ago Hampus Lindholm and Taylor Hall, acquired at the trade deadlines of 2022 and 2021 — but his totally free agent signings and drafting, significantly early in his GM career, have been fewer than solid.
He opened his tenure with the 2015 draft, in which he selected Jakub Zboril (13th general), Jake DeBrusk (14th), and Zach Senyshyn (15th) ahead of foreseeable future All-Stars Mathew Barzal (16th), Kyle Connor (17th), and Thomas Chabot (18th). His greatest UFA additions in his to start with two yrs were Matt Beleskey (five years, $19 million in 2015) and David Backes (six a long time, $30 million in 2016).
His most new cost-free agent course included the declining Nick Foligno (two decades, $7.6 million), even though goalie Linus Ullmark (four several years, $20 million), Erik Haula (two decades, $4.75 million), Derek Forbort (3 years, $9 million), and Tomas Nosek (two several years, $3.5 million) offered good price.
Sweeney, 55, was an eighth-spherical draft pick (166th over-all) of the Bruins in 1984. The Harvard alum played 15 of his 16 NHL seasons in Boston, logging 1,052 games here. He joined the club’s hockey operations staff members in 2006, became assistant GM in 2009, and put in 2014-15 as GM of AHL Providence.
Matt Porter can be attained at [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter: @mattyports.