As they attempted to sift through the carnage of an unexpectedly terrible season and try to chart a course out of their current storm, Bruins’ executives ran the gamut of emotions and stances in a nearly hourlong season-ending press conference – at times contentious as well as conflicting – at the Garden on Wednesday.
They went from self-flagellation (“an embarrassment” was how CEO Charlie Jacobs referred to the season) to acknowledgment of failure (GM Don Sweeney: “I have to accept the responsibility that this team this season significantly underperformed.”) to combativeness (team president Cam Neely said “there’s been more good than bad” over his and Sweeney’s tenures.)
But now that the public shaming box has been checked off for this disastrous campaign, the question is: how long will it take to get back to being a real, sustainable contender?
“I think we’re back in the mix with the group of guys, if we stay healthy and we do our jobs,” said Sweeney.
That could be true, depending on how you define being “back in the mix.” If it means just getting back into playoff contention then, yes, it’s possible. Unlike most other rebuilding teams, they have some of the prized pieces already in place. There is superstar David Pastrnak in his prime. Provided they return healthy, they will be adding No. 1 and No. 2 defensemen in Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm. Morgan Geekie, who enjoyed a breakout season with 33 goals, remains under the B’s control as an RFA and Sweeney said, one way or another, he’ll be on the team next season. And one has to believe/hope a better version of Jeremy Swayman shows up in training camp.
There are some free agent wings – and Sweeney highlighted the need to address the wing position – that could make them a better team. Mitch Marner is the prize of the market, if he gets to it, but there’s also Nikolaj Ehlers and Brock Boeser. Old friend Ryan Donato (31-31-62) has also put himself in position for a sizable payday.
But there is a long distance between being “back in the mix” for the playoffs and being a team that can compete for a Stanley Cup year after year. And only time and good drafting can bridge that gap. The list of what went wrong this season is long. They didn’t have enough scoring, they didn’t defend like they have in the past even before the injuries to the back end occurred, the goaltending was a disappointment and the special teams were bad. There are holes, and a lot of them.
All of that was bad enough to make them the fifth-worst team in the NHL while former also-ran teams in their own division (Montreal, Ottawa) finally got over the playoff hump. The B’s are currently looking up at five playoff teams just in their own division.
Neely said the team has to “build back better.”
“The biggest thing for me is, I don’t want everyone to focus on just making the playoffs. Yes, we do want to make the playoffs, but we have bigger goals in mind than just making the playoffs,” said Neely. “It’s not just about getting in and getting bounced in round one. We’re here to understand we have to build a team that’s going to compete for Stanley Cups. Don and his group have done it before. I have full confidence we can do it again.”
While there’s an organizational belief that the B’s can be in the post-season next year, Jacobs said he could grant some patience – sort of.
“If Cam and Don came to me and said ‘listen, we do think we have a path towards a championship, but we need patience,’ of course, we’ll be patient. I do feel though, and we’ve spoken at great lengths about this, the team that we currently have, healthy, with the additions we intend to make this summer, we’ll have a playoff team and play meaningful hockrey at this time of year in 2026.”
Though Neely defended the job Sweeney has done over the past decade, it’s not exactly clear what the GM has to do this offseason to earn more time to bolster this team’s foundation. It is no secret that he is entering the final year of his contract and, despite his praise for the GM, Neely remained non-committal on Sweeney.
“I’m still contemplating what the best course of action is,” said Neely. “The year we had is a huge disappointment and that falls on all of us, not just Don. I’ll figure it out in the near future on that particular question, whether we re-sign Don or not.”
While Sweeney mentioned addressing the wing position, the center position remains a question mark. The top three centers right now are Elias Lindholm, Casey Mittelstadt and Pavel Zacha. It’s a group that needs help. But established top-six centermen don’t often come available. Like Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci, those players are usually drafted, developed and cherished.
It’s a good bet that they draft a center in the June draft, whether picking at No. 1 or 7. But it’s unlikely that player will even be the roster next season, never mind make an impact high in the lineup. Unless Sweeney hits a dinger of a trade, improvement at center is an area that will require that patience.
But before Sweeney goes about improving the roster, he has to find a coach. He said that interim coach Joe Sacco is still in the mix and will be part of the final interview process, but he also pointed out that the product after Jan. 3 was just not good enough.
“I want a coach that’s going to evolve a little bit offensively and, again, that’s part and parcel with being able to communicate with sometimes younger players and their stubbornness and inexperience,” said Sweeney.
Sweeney also wants to the new coach to reinvigorate the internal competition that he felt was lacking. Of course, to have internal competition, you to have the players to push each other.
It is Sweeney’s job to get those players. How long he has it depends on how successful he is.