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Kalman: Stamkos, Lucic Fantasies Aside, Bruins Improvement Always Tied To Defense Corps

BOSTON (CBS) -- Before he began making picks at the 2016 NHL Draft in Buffalo over the weekend, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney sounded intent on improving his team for the 2016-17 season as long as he could make the Bruins a perennial contender by the end of this decade rather than a team going for all the glory in 2017.

"We want to be a competitive team that has an opportunity to win each and every year and be in a position that at certain times where you really feel like your window is there, then you may tip the scales a little bit in terms of the leveraging point," Sweeney said Thursday. "But until you get there I think you need to be patient."

The draft came and went without the Bruins making a trade to improve the team for the upcoming season. Instead they picked six prospects, all of whom don't project to be in Boston for at least a year or probably more.

Then after the draft Sweeney lamented the high price asked in trades and lauded the picks the Bruins made that he loved (all GMs love their picks on draft day). Then free agency market came up. The interview period started Saturday and the market opens July 1. Sweeney said the Bruins have already spoken to a couple players they're interest in signing.

Sweeney was asked specifically about two players: Tampa Bay Lightning sniper Steven Stamkos and old friend Milan Lucic?

"We will take the temperature of whoever will help out hockey club," Sweeney told the assembled media. "And if it lines up, that's what we'd like to do," said Sweeney. "Obviously, we have flexibility for any particular players we would like to go after. There are a lot of coveted ones on the market and we'll make all the calls."

Let's face it: the media scrum could have thrown out the names of Stamkos, Lucic, Alex Radulov, Jason Demers, Bobby Orr and Rocket Richard and Sweeney would have had the same answer. Love him or hate him for the moves he has made (or not made) since he took over the Bruins last summer, Sweeney is the type of general manager who's not going to close the door on anything. And it would be poor form to tip his hand publicly. While he's at it, and he has to say something when made available after a draft, he might as well play coy about anything that can shake up the fan base and rattle some fellow GMs who might also be in the bidding for star players on the free agent market or in trades. If you're not going to make the big move, it's still good for business to make it seem like you're willing to do it.

But what would this pursuit of Stamkos or Lucic look like? In Stamkos' case, it's basically a pipe dream.

We already know that Stamkos turned down $8.5 million per year from the Lightning. Sweeney won't pay the hefty price it takes right now to acquire a top-two defenseman, yet he'd be willing to pay $9, $10 million for Stamkos? Stamkos is a generational talent and the best player to ever hit unrestricted free agency since the salary-cap era began. He'll make any team miles better when he signs, assuming he leaves Tampa Bay. But the Bruins can't afford his asking price if they plan on surrounding him with a high-caliber supporting cast and if he's taking a discount to go anywhere, it's not Boston. If the Bruins devote that much cap space to sign Stamkos, they'd have very little left to improve their defense. They would have to break up their core. They'd be cap-strapped for years because the cap ceiling might not be rising much the next few years as the Canadian dollar struggles and uncertainty in the financial world reigns hand in hand with political uncertainty. Making a huge commitment to Stamkos would run counter to everything Sweeney has preached since he took over for Peter Chiarelli.

Signing Lucic, even for the $6.5 million he was making or the raise he figures to receive would be just as baffling as a Stamkos signing, albeit for different reasons. The Bruins parted with Lucic because they didn't want to tie up their cap space with a player who's inconsistent and plays a style that can lead to a quicker deterioration than most. The Bruins missed Lucic's emotion and intimidation last season. Nonetheless, Los Angeles only got 20 goals from him and they could've lost in the first round to San Jose without him. He's a unique talent that when cast in the right role can be a game-changer, but he's not worth the money he's going to get for a team in the Bruins' spot right now.

Several times over the weekend Sweeney credited the Bruins' core players, who want to get back to winning and want to be active in recruiting talent to Boston. That doesn't sound like a GM willing to alter the core through trade to improve the team for the immediate future. Signing a high-priced forward would require moving someone out to address the biggest area of need. In fact, sometime soon Sweeney might still have to part with a core player to make the defense better.

Without Loui Eriksson or Torey Krug signed, and a couple other holes in the roster needing filling, the Bruins have about $20 million in cap space, according to GeneralFanager.com. The No. 1 priority for Sweeney – according to the man himself, others in the organization and everyone with eyes who was subjected to watching more than half the Bruins' games last season – is improving the defense. Although Sweeney has to keep all options open, any moves that don't address the top priority risk putting the Bruins deeper in the hole and returning to the playoffs a longer shot.

Fantasies about Stamkos' arrival or Lucic's return are fun. But they really don't fit the grand plan.

Matt Kalman covers the Bruins for CBSBoston.com and also contributes to NHL.com and several other media outlets. Follow him on Twitter @TheBruinsBlog.

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