Bruins GM Don Sweeney Gives Offseason Insight || Boston Has Entered The Chat
all right please be joined by general manager Don swiy of the Boston Bruins thanks for making time for us Don I know you’ve had a busy week already and I want to start with the acquisition the first round draft pick you’re back in the mix after the first time for a couple years with the first round pick um might be early to tell and there are several needs for this team do you have any priorities as to where those needs are right now well Sophia thanks for uh for inviting me on and I guess I should start by congratulating Celtics for Banner 18 um first opportunity I been able to do that publicly so congratulations to them U very much enjoyed a parade and U would love to follow in their footsteps at some point in time here and hopefully this upcoming season in reference to getting back into the first round obviously our our Scouts are incredibly excited you know they’ve worked all year to to hope that that we would we would do something to allow them to get back uh and have a selection there so you know we’ve got some areas that we would like to try and address with a particular play but we’re always trying to look for the best player we can draft um that fits you know into what we try and accomplish um regardless of position uh and we’re excited you know there’s several kids that we believe will be in that around that 25th pick uh unless you know something presents that we uh we don’t feel comfortable we want to uh we want to change either moving up or down in terms of need and when you’re decid and where you’re deciding where the priority is is it is it a dangerous game to play kind of project ction as to where you expect or where you hope some of your current players will be say with the Providence Bruins maybe you’re expecting someone to have a bigger year comes up or with the current Bruins is that a dangerous game to play or do you factor that in when it comes to drafting uh I mean if you have have players that have taken a big jump and MADD batra you know obviously we hope he comes back and he’s helped the next year and challenges to be back on our team so we had a pleasant surprise last year where we felt that he had had made a significant jump um does it change your your approach not really um we we we still try and find the best player that we can um you know where we’re drafting obviously you might have areas that you feel your organization needs to uh to address from a depth perspective but I don’t think we go in there with a Target specific we have to take a positional player at any point in time um we just like to evaluate the players that are available and make ultimately make the best decision possible obviously one of the narratives for the last few seasons Boston Bruins uh lucky but not just lucky they obviously uh traded well drafted well and coach Bob asza developed some great goal tending one of them was part of the trade to the Ottawa Senators of course lenus alark such an asset many teams looking for a goenda isfied with what you got in return well again it’s it’s always about what the market will bear and there were a lot of goalies that were were sort of being talked about within the marketplace um ultimately we made a decision as to what’s best for us uh as an organization wishing uh you know lean is thanking him first and foremost for for he and MOA and uh uh you know their fam’s contributions to uh to Boston both on and off the ice uh you know as I referenced before he’s he’s you know best winning goalie but he’s an Allstar on and off the ice um as a person so we wish him well uh except May more we’re playing against them which is the competitive nature of all of this uh but again the market you know you never know what other teams may may be doing they may be just exploring they may just testing dipping their toe in um there were several goalies that were discussed around the the league and and at this point in time only two or three of them have actually changed teams for different reasons and uh you we’re excited about Mark and Yona coming to our Hockey Club and as you referenced earlier getting back into the first round so you know we made the trade that uh we felt will continue to to add pieces to our Hockey Club as well as give us a chance to uh to improve the future of our oranization obviously uh for the last couple of seasons and dating back to yav hak and to Ras you kind of had this 1A 1B situation where you have two starters on your team with yis Corpus solo excuse me obviously you have to see how it plays out but is that the direction you want your team to go to harders or given you know his salary given what you get out of him are you okay with him being a just a solid backup and Jeremy Swan being the the sure number one well again both you know lenus and Jeremy at the end of the year were advocating to you know up their anti of of game starts and uh that’s a hard exercise when when both guys have been been very very good and trying to share the net and balance that out and you know Jeremy had a really strong playoff um and you case like I think it’s it’s important to have uh competitive goal tending um internal competition you know generally drives people forward and I think this will be a continued exercise in that we’ve had that benefit of of the relationship with with lenus and Sway and previously with tu andaro um and Brandon bus’s part of this equation he he wants his opportunity as well so I think training camp will be a really competitive environment to allow the the natural process of who takes the net um you know we’re excited that uh uh you know Jeremy has taken the steps that he has we’re going to get a contract done at some point in time with he and his camp and uh and move forward uh as I said trying to have the most competitive goal tending it’s it’s really difficult for a goalie to start the year and turn around and say you’re going to play you know 60 65 games it’s just it’s really hard um so we’ll hear Mark a number and and see how both goalies are playing um and and again lean on the internal competition to see who uh who sorts it out but uh um you have to have you know balanced goal tending you know each and every night in the league uh it’s too hard it’s too hard to get in the playoffs if you don’t and uh you I think our team the structure we have uh you know the commitment to defending I think will allow Jonas to come in and and get to the level that we feel he’s capable of getting to we saw a good glimpse of that in La when he went Bob’s done a lot of work to uh to study on us to to do background work on him and how he’s going to come in and compliment Jeremy and or or Brandon push is this whole group awesome thank you for that uh detailed answer this one I’m not sure if it’s going to be as detailed because I know negotiations are usually pretty private but can you give me any information as to where that is with Jeremy Swan have you guys started the process we are in the process um and and hopeful that at some point in time we will find the common ground that uh that we both would like to have awesome and a couple check-ins with the team you mentioned Matt ptra obviously made those strides had that iny you guys decided as a team it was best for him to have the surgery and Recovery this off seon do you have an update on his status and if he’s trending in the right direction for training camp and and uh the preseason yeah Matty’s done very well with surgery uh you know a really good surgical uh has followed up by a really good uh rehab and that’s exactly how it’s gone so far he’s actually going to make an appearance of Dev Camp just to sort of make sure the checks and balances in where he is uh we expect him fully uh up to 100% at training camp and moving forward with no restrictions whatsoever awesome and I think a couple more maybe this is the last one depending on your answer but Mason lorai obviously making big strides as well left shot defenseman but I know we’ve talked about this you’ve talked about it several times especially come the playoffs you need that depth on the blue line is that one of the priorities for you uh come July 1 come maybe this draft is that something you’re looking at adding more of well certainly in July we’ll have an ear towards uh an eye towards sorry um addressing probably the depth if we can improve our group and strengthen our group continue to um you know Mason’s a big part of that moving forward and his development uh at hopefully a natural course uh we saw a great uptick during the course of this season um you know getting thrown into the playoffs with high leverage stakes and being able to handle those situations um uh I I just think he’s got you know a lot of upside for us the offensive part the the skill at the Blue Line you know get him into the power play situations now where he he has more uh you know command of running a unit um continue to grow his game excited for J new addition to our staff to work with him and the rest of our group we’re going to look to strengthen that uh that position a little bit and add to the depth as we all know is so Paramount as you get through the season and uh you with lock uh of playing the way we’re capable playing we get in the play house and take another not and I forgot I teased you I’m sorry like I can’t forget the top six center position as well obviously you got a lot out of Charlie Coyle we saw huge strides paval zaka as well satisfied with those two or are you in the market to add down the middle as well well you never know how the Market’s going to you going play out obviously we addressed and uh with our group here that we’ve identified a couple of the players that if they do become available and fortunate enough to sign that we’d like to um it’s not a you know indictment on on any of the players you discussed be it pav or Charlie or Maddie or Geeks or you know guys that played played the middle it’s just a position that that uh you know those guys did a really good job they had good years for us um but it tests you in the course of the Season you know strength up the middle is something that uh is Paramount in pretty much all professional sports and uh and we feel very comfortable that if we can add um to that group um then our players should our team will benefit from it so that’s what our intention is but again the market will will bear what to you know what we’re able to do awesome Don I know this is one of the busiest times of year of the year for you so thank you for the one-on-one with nessen good luck and can’t wait to see the pieces that are added to the Boston ruins
Sophia sat down with Bruins GM, Don Sweeney to chat a bit about the offseason and what that will look like for the Bruins.
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