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Bruins Letting Brett Connolly Enter Free Agency, Raising Questions About Asset Management

By Michael Hurley, CBS Boston

BOSTON (CBS) -- A little over a year ago, the Boston Bruins gave up two second-round picks to acquire Brett Connolly. Now, they're willing to potentially let him walk away for nothing.

The team will not make qualifying offers to Connolly, Landon Ferraro or Ben Sexton, as noted by the Globe's Fluto Shinzawa.

The team announced that it will extend qualifying offers to Torey Krug, Colin Miller, Joe Morrow, Alex Khokhlachev, Brian Ferlin and Chris Castro.

While Connolly's play with the Bruins -- nine goals, 18 assists in 76 games -- didn't warrant a qualifying offer, the move represents just the latest display of poor asset management from the Bruins.

The Connolly acquisition took place when Peter Chiarelli was still the GM, but Cam Neely was overseeing hockey operations, and Don Sweeney was the assistant GM. The Bruins sent a 2015 second-round pick and a 2016 second-round pick to Tampa in exchange for Connolly, a player who suffered an injury upon arrival and didn't help prevent the Bruins from missing the postseason in 2015.

Since assuming the GM role, Sweeney hasn't improved upon the asset management. He traded a third-round pick for Zac Rinaldo, who scored one goal and added two assists while managing to get suspended both from the NHL and the AHL at the same time for two separate dirty hits. Sweeney then surrendered a third-round pick (2016) and a fifth-round pick (2017) as well as a prospect to acquire John-Michael Liles, as well as a fourth-round pick (2016) and second-round pick (2017) for Lee Stempniak. Liles and Stempniak combined for 16 points for the Bruins, who once again fell short of qualifying for the playoffs.

Compounding the issue is the fact that by most accounts, the Bruins have not drafted well. They made three mid-first-round picks last year, and while their selection of Charlie McAvoy this year showed potential improvement, the selection of Trent Frederic as a third-line grinder once again cast serious doubts on Sweeney's draft savvy.

The team, of course, has not completely abandoned its assets, as evidenced by the extension of offers to Miller (acquired in the Milan Lucic trade) and Morrow (acquired in the Tyler Seguin trade). The offer extended to Khokhlachev ensures that he remains under Bruins control while playing in the KHL, thus preventing other NHL teams from potentially signing him.

But on the whole, the picture of the Bruins is one that doesn't display a clear organizational plan. And letting a player -- albeit an underwhelming player -- who fills a spot at the team's thinnest position only invites more scrutiny.

The inner machinations of the front office can't be seen or known from the outside, and the lack of a qualifying offer doesn't necessarily mean the Bruins won't sign the player. Plus, given Connolly's aforementioned lackluster performance, there's something to be said about knowing when to cut bait rather than stubbornly sticking with a player out of obligation rather than desire.

But if this process results in a failure to reach the postseason for the third straight time, the spotlight is sure to shine even brighter on an organization that has brought many questions upon itself with its moves in recent seasons.

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