Boston Bruins: Grading Don Sweeney's 2024 Trade Deadline
What grade did Boston's GM get after swinging a pair of trades?
At the trade deadline in 2023, Boston Bruins General Manager (GM) Don Sweeney went all-in and made two trades that set them up for postseason success. In the end, the Bruins suffered a historic first-round loss in seven games at the hands of the Florida Panthers. This season, Sweeney’s team was again near the top of the NHL standings, but the results of this trade deadline are a lot different than a year ago.
Boston’s GM swung for the fences last trade deadline acquiring Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals and Tyler Bertuzzi from the Detroit Red Wings. At the time, it was the right move for Sweeney to go all-in at the deadline, but it backfired when the Florida Panthers rallied from a 3-1 first-round series deficit to stun the Bruins in seven games. This year, Sweeney went with depth.
Sweeney Gets Some Maroon Muscle
He acquired former Tampa Bay Lightning forward Pat Maroon from the Minnesota Wild in exchange for prospect Luke Toporowski and a draft pick. The rugged forward is out after back surgery in February, but he is expected back on the ice before the end of the month.
In Boston’s 4-1 victory over the Toronto Maple Leafs Thursday night at the TD Garden, things got chippy between the rivals. This season there has been an area where the Black and Gold have been lacking toughness in the lineup to deal with the chippiness. However, Maroon should solve that problem, especially if the two teams end up meeting in the first round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs next month.
Trading for Defensive Depth
Before the trade deadline, the case could be made that the Bruins’ top priority was acquiring a defenseman and Sweeney did that when he acquired Andrew Peeke from the Columbus Blue Jackets. The 25-year-old has two years remaining on his contract following this season with an average annual value (AAV) of $2.75 million. The second-round pick of Columbus in the 2016 Entry Draft has played in 23 games this season with a goal and eight points. The right shot will give Jim Montgomery some depth and insurance on the backend. In the deal, Sweeney sent defenseman Jakub Zboril to Columbus and it gives the 14th overall pick of the 2015 Entry Draft a new beginning and opportunity, something he never really got in Boston.
The Final Grades
Sweeney never addressed the center issue for the Bruins and will ride out the season with Charlie Coyle and Pavel Zacha as his top two pivots. Expect the center position and the addition of a first-line center to be addressed over the summer in free agency or an offseason trade. He also did not move pending free agents Matt Grzelcyk or Jake DeBrusk and risks losing both for nothing in the offseason.
It is OK that Sweeney didn’t swing big this trade deadline as his team is good, but are they a serious Stanley Cup contender? Most likely not and he leaves this trade deadline with his first-round draft pick in 2025, as well as prospects Mason Lohrei, Matthew Poitras, and Fabian Lysell still in the organization. Talk about a win-win for the future.
This should be considered a successful trade deadline for the Bruins and Sweeney as he didn’t overpay for a player and kept a lot of his young talented players. The focus on adding to the roster and building a better team for 2024-25 will begin with an offseason where he will have a lot of cap space to work with beginning this upcoming July.
Don Sweeney’s 2024 Trade Deadline Grade: B+