Don Sweeney Reveals Bruins’ Next ‘Job’ After Massive NHL Trade Deadline

The Boston Bruins are heading in a new direction. They made that pretty clear at the NHL trade deadline with Brad Marchand, Charlie Coyle, Justin Brazeau, Brandon Carlo and Trent Frederic all shipped out.

It’s a totally different core set to take the ice moving forward for the Bruins, though Boston general manager Don Sweeney would not call the series of transactions the start of a rebuild. Instead, the Bruins will shift focus to a few cornerstone players and start their next core around remaining players such as Charlie McAvoy and David Pastrnak.

“Now a couple of those guys in particular are injured that are big, big players and pieces for our group,” Sweeney told reporters at Warrior Ice Center. “Now we have to do a better job of building around it and charting the course that says we’re back. And that’s the job.”

Boston appears committed to that initiative, identifying those directions in the final weeks of the regular season, identifying leadership on the ice, and constructing the roster to put the Bruins back into sustainable success.

“(At) the end of the day, we weren’t going to just roll it back,” Sweeney added. “And that’s probably the message, like we needed to turn a page in some regard and do a better job. And that’s what we’ll do.”

The Bruins have 18 games remaining this season before a consequential offseason will determine the next phases of the roster.