If Patience Is Bruins Plan, Don Sweeney Should Practice What He's Preaching
By Matt Kalman, CBS Boston
WILMINGTON (CBS) -- Fresh off watching the Bruins' pool of prospects, many who've been selected under his watch as general manager, strut their stuff during four days of development camp at Ristuccia Arena, Don Sweeney was asked about staying patient waiting for the talent to develop despite the NHL roster needing a talent infusion to avoid a third straight season of missing the playoffs.
Sweeney held firm to what seems to actually be the definite plan for making the Bruins a better team both in the upcoming season and the seasons ahead.
"Patience is a word that is not readily thrown around in this marketplace. We understand that. I've never not acknowledged that we're in a competitive business, we want to win every year," Sweeney said. "But you have to grow your players. I firmly believe that. I've been committed to it since I've taken the job. And certainly working in development I've always believed that the internal search is the best place to find your players. I think we're in a much stronger position to allow these players [to develop].
"And they have to hit. If they don't, that's on us for misidentifying. But the opportunity will be there for them to have a chance to play for us."
Sweeney's right. Coming from the development side of the Bruins' front office when he first rejoined the organization, all the way through his ascent to Peter Chiarelli's replacement as GM, Sweeney has stressed the importance of pumping young talent through the organization. The problem has been his actions haven't always backed up his words. Whether it was trading Dougie Hamilton, not trading Loui Eriksson or dealing draft picks for veterans Lee Stempniak and John Michael Liles (draft picks that would've come in handy with an offer sheet to a restricted free agent), Sweeney at times has handicapped the organization's ability get younger quickly.
On the other hand, in the aftermath of trading Hamilton, Sweeney made three first-round draft picks in 2015 and two more in the first round in 2016. In total, the Bruins drafted nine players in the first or second round this year and last, in addition to signing Frank Vatrano as a free agent in the spring of 2015 and acquiring Colin Miller in the Milan Lucic trade.
The competitive market Sweeney is talking about – Boston fans – should also be a smart market. In a salary-cap environment, the Bruins can't spend their way out of trouble. Without totally throwing away a season or two, he's trying to please the veteran players by keeping the Bruins competitive and develop some of the younger players in a similar environment. A little bit of winning can help players blossom better and maybe even faster. Having patience might be better than the alternative.
Although there's no room in Boston for an Edmonton or Toronto model, where a decade is spent watching the playoffs and the high draft picks collect and never help turn the corner, the Bruins can at least sell a passing of the baton from their older players to the ones coming up. As long as elite veteran talents like Patrice Bergeron, Brad Marchand and Tuukka Rask are around, and Zdeno Chara isn't asked to do too much as he gets older, the Bruins can remain much more competitive than the Oilers or Maple Leafs have been the past several seasons.
Although it would've been wiser to hold onto rare commodities like Hamilton and Tyler Seguin, the spilled milk isn't worth crying over. It's difficult to replace those types of players, especially in a league where every team locks up its core six to seven guys for half a decade or more. Free agency is the realm of overspending for and overvaluing second-level talent, as the Bruins proved with their David Backes signing.
So when you've traded away some elite talent, there's none to be had on the open market and would-be trade partners are holding out for a king's ransom for their elite talents, you have to replenish through the draft. When you use five first-round picks in two years, you can accelerate the process. When you're in desperate need of an heir apparent to Chara, you use five picks in the top two rounds the past two seasons to select defensemen. There's strength in numbers, and even the worst scouting departments would hit on at least two of those players fulfilling or exceeding his potential. The Bruins, with faith in their evaluators, have to figure they're going to see at least three or four of those guys become NHL regulars. There are picks below the first two rounds who could also contribute and there will always be college free agents, including Jimmy Vesey next month.
In the end, the Bruins could have players to build their team around or chips to trade for those talents teams are clinging on to.
If Sweeney and the Bruins commit to a focus of about 75-80 percent on the future and 20-25 percent on the present, this plan to make the Bruins into an elite team again could pay off as soon as 2018-19, with 2017-18 as that big growth and evaluation season. But Sweeney has to continue to practice what he's preaching in terms of patience and stop acting like a contender at the trade deadline and in the free-agent market until the Bruins are actually close.
Then, as Sweeney said, the prospects have to "hit" or it will be on him and his staff to pay the price.
Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.
