Sweeney Extension & Bruins Mock Offseason Part 1 | The Skate Pod, Ep. 442

Sweeney Extension & Bruins Mock Offseason Part 1 | The Skate Pod, Ep. 442

Welcome in to episode 442 of the Skate Podcast. I am Brian Deliz joined by Bridget Pru and Scott Mclofflin. Bridget Scott and myself, we want to get to a couple of opening shifts just regarding the current events of the NHL and and the latest happenings with the Boston Bruins. Before we get into any of that, Bridget and Scott, today marks part one of a multi-part Bruins off season mockup situation where the three of us will be putting on our GM hats. And we will collectively be deciding which RFAS the Bruins should sign, which they should let walk, if any, and for how much they be resigning for. that will bleed over into our unrestricted free agent class and additions for the Boston Bruins and we’ll be talking about the head coach hire. We’ll be talking about who they should draft at seven overall and just in general just offseason additions and subtractions as proposed by us here at the Skate Podcast in a realistic manner. Obviously with all the figures in mind, salary cap projections and everything. So spent hours I spent hours yesterday trying to get CAP compliant with my my ideas. I sat on my computer and just like trying to get CAP compliant and but like put together an actual team that I thought had a chance like it was tough. I did I did some homework and then I went to go see the new Final Destination movie which guys it’s sick sick movie. I hate it. Really really good. What what what is it? just a bunch of highlights from the 20 uh 24 25 Bruins season or Yeah. Is that what it is? Yeah, that’s it. Yeah, it’s it’s the it just shows the the death of each player that they traded away. Just kidding. Don Don Sweeney just offing forwards. Scott, how much I hate like scary movies. I I definitely will not go to see that. Scott, how much uh how much GM mode in in EA Sports have you played over the last couple of days to prepare for this? Uh yeah, a a lot. I mean, a lot of it is like stuff obviously like we’ve been talking about for a while. Um, but yeah, you know, in the in the idea of looking for offseason content, we we came up with this. I I did something like this a few years ago for wei.com just in written form and people seemed interested. So, you know, obviously it’s a it’s a little silly because so much goes into an off season and it’s, you know, all it’s going to take is like one move to completely derail what we’re what we’re doing. But I think it is important to note to people like these aren’t predictions. These are what we would do. So like this is like we’re taking over the Bruins front office. We’re barricading ourselves in Don Sweeney, Cam Neely, they’re all gone. And so this is just us making the moves that that we would make. We’re going to debate them. We haven’t sent each other like our sort of, you know, our ideal moves and what our roster ends up looking like. So hopefully we will have some some debate and disagreement. And you know, I think we’re just going to do simple majority rules. If there’s a decision we’re not in agreement on, two and we pick Scott out and we go with what Bridget wants. That’s how Bridget thinks it works. But it’s actually going to just be twothirds rules. I’m I’m not gonna lie though. Like I spent way too much time on this and even like I could not come up with something that I 100% was like confident and like liking it completely. It was really difficult just because the amount of cap space you have left if you do want to add a big piece like you’re then scrambling to try to fill in the other holes and you don’t necessarily like the balance of your roster or whatever. and you redo it and you redo it and you redo it. And so I have a feeling that um though I keep joking that I have great ideas, uh I think we can probably work together to come up with some better ones because uh there it’s not really a simple simple answer and we Yeah. We don’t know what each other made. I I my spreadsheet itself took like I don’t know like eight hours. Yeah. Well, and and it speaks to like something I’ve been saying since the deadline, which is like just how much work this team has to do. So, yeah, you’re right. It’s like no matter what kind of moves you come up with, you look at the roster and you’re like, ah, there’s still a hole there and a hole there. And I I would have preferred to go get someone better for this spot, but it’s like, yeah, okay, that’s their reality. You know, they they sold to the deadline. They didn’t have a very good team anyways and now there’s an awful lot of holes on this roster that realistically just are not going to all be filled in one off season. Yeah. Basically what I did was like I had I had tried three different like main additions and like then just like played out the process of how to fill in the rest like with that that amount of cap space left. And I got rid of the first two that I that I tried because it the rest of the roster just looked like crap. I was like I can’t do this. like I have to go through and and make some better decisions on how to spend the money more evenly. I don’t know. I I went through the exercise like way too many times. Um and we’re about to do it again. So yeah, I mean I think like like Scott said, the three of us haven’t really discussed much of any details on our opinions. So hopefully this is going to play out pretty organically. And again, it’s going to try to be realistic based off of the information that that we have and only the information that we have. So, for example, we know what the NHL salary cap is projected to be next season. We know what certain players are projected to get in the offseason with new contracts and and we obviously know the holes that the Bruins have and and how we can try to rectify that, but at the end of the day, and Scott said it, like there are certain things that we can’t prepare for. Is does Don Sweeney have a couple of hockey trades up his sleeve that we just aren’t privy to? Are there are they going to offer sheet somebody? Like there’s only so much we can really do. So, the best way we’re going to go about this is just try to start with the free uh with the restricted free agents and then see how much money we have to work with after that and then go from there. But before we get into this exercise, Bridgen Scott, I I did mention that couple opening shifts just I think this is just a general uh touching base. So, the NHL is down to their final four teams. It is the Toronto Oh, no. Sorry. It’s not Toronto. Obviously, they didn’t they didn’t advance and win game seven. So, we have the Florida Panthers versus the Carolina Hurricanes in the East. And I can’t I can’t believe the Leafs didn’t get it done. You know, I really really thought this was finally finally their year. You’re a bad liar. You’re a liar, Scott. You’re a liar. Um yeah, we have Carolina Florida in the East, which is a rematch of the 2023 Eastern Conference Finals, I believe. Yeah. And then we have the Dallas Stars versus the Edmonton Oilers in the West. Is that a repeat of last year’s Western Finals? It is great. Going to be a great series. I mean, Dallas is loaded up even more so in the last calendar year. Yeah. You know, the like you felt like last year that series it was Yeah. the the Stars are deep, but the Oilers have the star power and no pun intended and so they won. Now the Stars have their own star with Miko Rantin. So that absolutely changes the dynamics. He has been the best player in this postseason. Um just yeah just so much so many exciting players to watch in that series. Um the Eastern Conference I guess probably not as sexy on paper, but we know we know what the Panthers are trying to do. Trying to get trying to repeat trying to get to a third straight Stanley Cup final. Carolina trying to finally break through to a Stanley Cup final. feels like they’re in contention and have a chance every year and never get over the hump. So, big challenge for them. Uh Frederick Anderson has been playing like, you know, maybe along with Jake Andre, like the best goalie left. He’s been awesome this postseason. So, that’s going to have to continue if Carolina’s going to have any chance. Is there anyone left in the playoff? Well, I guess all right, JK. There’s definitely a few guys like my a few of the guys that I had in my additions to the roster in free agency are still in the playoffs and including there’s someone on Dallas. So, we’ll see. Well, that’s a tease. Um, so guys, does do you guys have any other thoughts on the playoffs? I mean, Marshon obviously is very very close to officially uh getting the Bruins a first round pick. It just needs to play tonight, right? So yeah, if if Marshian just plays game one Tuesday night, he will have played at least 50% of Florida’s games, no matter how far they go, because the most the highest number of games they can possibly play if these next two rounds go seven, is 26 games. Martian has already played 12. He’s played all 12 so far. So, uh, yeah, the two conditions of that trade to get a for the Bruins to get a first round pick was Florida winning two rounds, which they have now done, and Marshian playing at least 50% of all their playoff games, which he’s now one game away from doing. So, you know, look, that that that does matter. Like, I’m not going to say it makes the trade feel good or that it’s even enough in return. I you know obviously we I think with all that at the time that wasn’t enough in return even with the limitations because Marshian was injured they worked with him to send him to a team he wanted to go to. Um but if it gets upgraded from a second to a first like you do feel a little better for look first round picks matter and even if Florida is still good enough come 2027 that it’s later like it’s still something. It’s still better than a second. So, it’s it’s more valuable to you. It’s more valuable trade capital if you use it as a trade chip at some point. Um, you know, so that that does matter. I guess that’s maybe a a tiny bit of a silver lining uh for the Bruins. Yeah. And it’s also not just that he’s played 12 playoff games for the Florida Panthers. It’s that he is leading the team in scoring in those 12 games. He’s tied with his linemate uh is etu looster linen. Yeah, lsterinan. Those finish names could be can be tricky. But um yeah, so he he’s obviously been an integral part of their first two rounds so far and I don’t see that I don’t see that diminishing. I just, you know, you look at the Panthers and you could say maybe Matthew Kachchuck has been a little quiet, but I think he’s obviously fighting through something, which most players are this time of year, but he hasn’t he didn’t play a game from Four Nations until round one, game one. So, he’s nursing something, but you expect him and and a couple other players to also have their moments as this as these playoffs get into the the the third and fourth rounds for these teams. But Brad Marshian just I mean from a Brewers perspective I know people feel certain ways about about the trade from a sentimental perspective and maybe from a logistical perspective as well. But you know at the end of the day this this pick is going to be a firstrounder as Scott mentioned and maybe just maybe one of your favorite Bruins ends up winning a Stanley Cup and is it with a team that has knocked you out of the playoffs the last couple years? Sure. But but at the end of the day this is professional sports is a business. I mean, players players play a lot of you see a lot of GMs and coaches around the league that are winning Stanley Cups in those roles and they played their entire career in the NHL for a different city and or vice versa. Like these guys once you’re in this NHL network, you you’ve coached, you’ve played everywhere. Like it’s it’s just a business. And as fans, you get emotionally invested and tied to those who come through your city. But for them, it’s just a business that they’re in. So, not that they don’t have love and sentimental value for those cities as well, but it’s just it’s just the business. So, I happy for Marshian. Maybe he play his old friend Trent Frederick in the finals. Maybe both of them are going to be free agents against. I’m not I would be lying if I told you that I didn’t have a scenario where Marshon was one of the people I added back to the team. Bridget, you keep teasing this too much. We’re going to end up doing the same right now. I spent so much time on it. I need to get to it. I need to say what it looks like. Yeah, I I had one final final funny note from the playoffs, guys. And I And wouldn’t it be wouldn’t it be hilarious if if Mo Rantin ends up playing the Hurricanes in the finals as well, because obviously he goes from Colorado to Carolina. He’s there for a cup of coffee. Then Carolina trades him to Dallas, which comes back to bite Colorado in the ass, getting a game seven hat-tick, ending their season. And obviously the Hurricanes didn’t do anything wrong to Mo. So it’s not like in round in in the cup finals he’d be getting his revenge on the Hurricanes, but it would be quite something to see Rantin go from Colorado to Carolina to Dallas, defeat Colorado in round one, and then play Carolina in round four. That would be quite the individual storyline story arc. Yeah, it’s just like the Miko Ranton in season like everything just revolves around him. Um he’s the main character. Yeah, it it is fascinating getting this far. They clearly had I think the easiest divisional path to get to to get through. Um, it would be fascinating if like this is the year they actually get past Florida or maybe even win the cup because this is sort of the culmination of two years of sort of failing to to land and lock up the the star forward that they’ve been looking for, right? There’s the Jake Gensel trade. They didn’t resign him. Now Rantin, they bring in, they can’t get an extension. They trade him away again. Uh, and obviously I’m sure they hope that, you know, that Logan Stankovven develops into a really good player or those picks become something, but I I kind of wrote off the rest of their season after that because I was like, well, they just took a big step back, you know, like now they don’t have NHS or Rantin. Um, and yet here they are. And like I said, I, you know, if I had to pick it, I’m I’ll I’ll take Florida in six, maybe even five. I I think I do think Florida’s a much better team, but again, goending can be the great equalizer. Anderson’s been awesome. Babroski has been okay, maybe not even that this postseason. Um, so we’ll see. All right. And one final note before we go into the part one exercise today is just checking in on World Championships. I also I will I will tease and maybe I’ll give one of you two an opportunity to look look up the name specifically, but the Bruins did sign a deaf goalender. But before we get to that, just world championship uh check-in. David Passionac and Elias Lynholm are tied for first and second in scoring over in World Championships right now. Uh one of David Passion’s teammates is technically ranked above him, though they both have five goals, seven assists, 12 points in six games. And then Elias Lynholm is tied with Nathan McKinnon uh in scoring six games each, six goals, four assists, 10 points. So I’m not sure what that tiebreaker is. Maybe it’s alphabetical or maybe Well, I guess I don’t know. I don’t know what the tiebreaker is if they played the same games and have the same points, but yeah, I don’t I can’t imagine there’s any tiebreaker. I think they’re just tied. Yeah. No. Yeah, I know. I just don’t know what how it’s how they decide to rank. Maybe just they just the tiebreaker is scoring another goal. Some some someone’s got to go first. And I I didn’t know if it was like ice time or plus minus or something. I I don’t know. But anyway, uh that’s your Bruins world’s check-in. That’s heading into action on Tuesday. I do think Czech uh the Czech Republic plays USA today. So yeah, and and Jeremy Son has played one game since the last time we talked when we talked about him struggling. It was against Kazakhstan. So I don’t know how much you can read into it. He stopped uh 16 of 17 shots. um 6-1 win as again you would expect like the US should blow out Kazakhstan. Uh I don’t know if he’s going to be in net for uh this game against Czech Republic, but that’s going to be going on. I think that’ll be starting while we’re recording. So, not really worth getting too much into that yet. Oh, it’s good thing I brought my second laptop then because open that up. Uh yeah, so you mentioned that the goalie they signed um and it is a Czech goalie. Uh, Simon Zichic, I believe is how it’s pronounced. Um, yeah, interesting organizational depth. He’s 23 years old. Uh, played in the Czech Extra Liga, which is Czech Republic’s top pro league, and led the league in save percentage this year with a 930. Uh, he went 15 and 13 overall, 2.12 goals against average. He’s 6’2″, 187 pounds. Um, his team got knocked out in the first round in three games, but he had a 927 save percentage. So, yeah, look, the Bruins have two AHL goalies who are both going to be unrestricted free agents on July 1 if they’re not ressigned before then in Michael D. Pedro and Brandon Busy. So, you know, maybe maybe this is a sign that they anticipate losing at least one of those guys. You could certainly see them maybe looking for an opportunity where, you know, they might have a a clearer path towards NHL playing time or at least towards an ability to compete for the job. You know, Bruins have Jeremy Syman and Yonas Corposalo locked up under contract for several more years. Maybe they trade one of them teased towards uh possible discussion later in this episode or next episode. So, um, we’ll see what we decide to do. But, yeah, you know, or they just like this kid and want to give him a shot. He he was undrafted. He’s never played outside the Czech Republic, but you see those kind of numbers in a pro league for a 23 year old and even though it’s not, you know, one of the very top leagues in the world. Uh, seems like a kid worth taking a chance on in my opinion. Okay, so let’s get into the crux of today’s episode, which is going to be Bruins RFAS and who we’re keeping, who we’re letting go, and what we’re signing those we’re keeping at. Yeah, we we’ll do we’ll do their UFAS, too. So, like all all their own guys. Yeah. Yes. Yes. So, before we do that, we have to hire the coach. We have to hire the coach. So, Bridgen Scott, do we have a unanimous decision on this? I mean, I think I know who I would want to go with for timing and just and it might align with Scott, but I’m just going to float out the name Marco Sturm and that would be my guy. Okay. So, Bridget, do you have much disagreement there? Um, well, I actually had Misha Donskoff as my coach. However, uh Dallas moving on to the conference finals kind of throws a wrench in it. He’s the assistant coach there. Um we talked about last episode maybe needing a little bit of urgency to sign someone. So then you can start putting forward um your next plans on who you want to sign, who you want to add that falls into that coach’s system. Um, but I do still think that there’s a way to continue to pursue Donskov and just by because Don Sweeney already probably knows just from having conversations with him when he was brought on to the Four Nations Canadian staff. Like I think he probably has a decent idea just from other conversations in the past what kind of team he might want, what kind of style he might want to put together. Um, and so that’s who I went with, though I do like Sturm as well. That would have been my my second one to bring up. So, I’m totally happy with going with Sturm. But, I did want to put out that I just in terms of like fitting the bill, like checking the boxes, I think Donskov actually checks more boxes that Sweeney wants. Um he’s had pretty extensive NHL experience as an assistant coach and in other roles as well. Um and like I said with international hockey for nations, he worked with Sweeney with Canada. Uh he I personally think he’s more qualified. Um he is also older. So if you wanted to go with like the new voice, new ideas kind of thing, maybe he’s even though he hasn’t been in a a a head coach. Yeah, I was just gonna say like that’s that’s the that would be the but one big knock that in my mind would make him less qualified than Marco Sturm is he hasn’t been a head coach. He hasn’t been at at any level. So, you know, that’s not to me like that’s not a small thing. Now, I I like Misha Donskov. Obviously, we’ve talked to him before and I I would not at all mind that higher. In fact, I’d be pretty excited about it. Um, I like DD have kind of taking taking that chance on on on a new guy. Um, but I do think being a head coach previously, uh, in Marm’s case at both the AHL level and the international level, um, and then I would also throw Jay Woodcraftoft in as one of my I would say like top three guys along with those two. You know, Jay Woodcraftoft’s been a head coach in the NHL. So, um I I do think like that to me that is a knock against Donskov. It’s not disqualifying at all, but just in relation to other candidates who have been a head guy. Yeah, I think I I agree with that. I I do think that Marco Sturm having a head coaching experience in Ontario the last three seasons, I believe it is, it’s that that to me isn’t something to overlook when it comes to comparing him with Misha Donskov. And again, timing is of the essence here. So, with all these decisions that we have to make with with RFAS and and our own UFAS, I I I I do think that there’s validity and in merit to having our our head coach locked up and and decided on. And so, Misha Donskov could be coaching as as late as mid June with Dallas. And I just think we need to I don’t think we should be relying on the availability of somebody else that’s currently on a cup run. So, I think Marco Star makes a lot of sense um from a timing perspective and from a candidacy perspective. So, if you guys are okay with that, I I would like to bring him in. I don’t know if you wanted to get specifics on a on a on a on a term and and an AAV situation. Scott, if you were that prepared with with with the coach because I’m not. So, I think we’re just because it doesn’t it does notffect it doesn’t affect the the roster. So, and a lot of times we never hear about what what the number actually is. So yeah, we don’t necessarily know. Yeah, like you pretty much only get the numbers when it’s like one of the biggest contracts ever because then that tends to leak, but um yeah. No, I don’t think we need to get into that. All right, so we’ll just we’ll just make Marco the the highest paid coach of all time. One year, $100 million contract. All right, moving on. I was going to say uh 6.9 year. 6.9 million a year. That’s perfect, Scott. There you go. I’m gonna kick I kick you out already. Oh my gosh. Okay, so that gets us to where we’re going to be spending most of today. Now, Scott, I know you mentioned that we have our own UFAS to make decisions on, but I really do feel like because of their UFA status, I want to focus on the RFAS, see how much money we have there, and then I’m just going to treat the Bruins UFAS like the rest of the UFA class because I mainly because of who they are. I mean, we’re talking Cole Keepky, Henry, Yokiharu, and was there one more? Uh, Parker Wtherspoon, I think. So, yeah. Yeah. And then like there’s a couple Providence guys that maybe we we might want to consider as you know, do we see them on the NHL roster next year that we can just throw out there. Okay. So, but so let’s let’s kind of just keep it to the RFAS for just just for now. Um, and and I want to I want to start this conversation by letting our listeners know for our player next contract projections, we are using well at least I I’m I’ve been using AFP analytics and it it’s not just a a run-of-the-mill Twitter account or website. They put a lot of time and effort and use a lot of resources in coming up to these to these contracts. whether we end up using them or not, it’s they’re good baselines and I I recommend anybody out there also checking them out because it really is helpful. I think you tweeted it. Yes. No, we might. Yeah. And and it’s free. So like if you just go to AFP Analytics on Twitter, I think it’s their pinned tweet, so it’s right at the top of their page. And yeah, it’s just a big Google spreadsheet that anyone can click into that I spent like eight hours in yesterday. Yeah. When you said you spent eight hours making a spreadsheet, I was going to say, “Why’d you make one?” They have it all ready for you, but I think researching it. I have a screenshot of it that I plan on showing later, so you know. Okay. All right. All right. All right. So, let’s let’s Yeah, Scott, go ahead. I was going to say, well, the last thing we should note is just what the Bruins cap situation and and roster looks like going in. So, uh, using Puckedia for this, they currently have the Bruins at 11 players signed to NHL contracts on the Boston roster, uh, accounting for 66.68 million. So, the salary cap next year is going to be $95.5 million. That leaves the Bruins with 28.82 million. Um, obviously that does not include guys who, or maybe it’s not obvious, so I’ll just say it. That does not include guys who finished the year down in Providence. So, Matt Potra, Frasier Minton, Fabian Lysel for for our starting point using Puckedia, those guys are not counting against the cap because they finished the year on the Providence roster. So if we if we envision those guys starting next year in Boston, any of them, then we’ll add their capit to to the books. So with those numbers in mind that Scott just said, and I’ll I’ll reiterate them in in a second. What I’m going to do right now to get everybody on the same starting point is Morgan Geeky, Mason Lauri, Johnny Beecher, Marat Husnadino, and Jacob Loco or the Bruins restricted free agents heading into the summer. I’m going to read off for all of you what AFP has them projected at for new contracts and if the Bruins signed all of these guys at these projections, what that would bring their salary cap down to heading into UFA season on July 1. Obviously, the three of us aren’t going to have this same allowance remaining, but if the Bruins were to sign, all these players have these contracts. Okay, so uh just from the top, NHL salary cap 955, Bruins under current contract is 66,681667. Again, Scott just mentioned that that’s with some people down in Providence at the moment. Current salary cap space remaining 28,818 3333. Okay. Morgan Geeky is projected to make $6.5 million per year at four years. Mason Laurai has two projections, a long-term and a short term. The long-term projection is $5.4 million per year at 6 years. The short-term projection is $3 million per year at two years. Johnny Beecher is expected to make $1.5 million per year at two years. Marat Hnadino is expected to sign for $924,000 per year at two years. And Jacob Loco is projected to sign 1.17 million per year for one year. So, I can already tell you Brian didn’t make the spreadsheet because Morat got way way less than what Brian would give him. So, the only the only untouchable in the league besides Conor McDavid, but we’ll get we we’ll we’ll get to that. We’ll get to that shortly. So, I just I thought it was weird as as we took over the Bruins front office that the first thing Brian requested from the Jacobs family was enough money to pay for a Marthur’s Vineyard weekend retreat of whining and dining Marus Medinov. I was like like Brian he’s an RFA. I don’t think we need to do all this. Guys, come on. You’re gonna statue. I thought you were gonna say a statue. What’s the deal? Listen, guys. This this this podcast is public and I don’t need to hear I don’t need uh Don’s Lash Melis hearing my affinity for Mariah. I don’t need this right now. Okay. Oliver Walstrom. Well, oh my god, guys. Will you can we please stop putting under the gun here? I’m going to say something I’m going to hear about later. Okay. So, if the Bruins signed all of those players at those projections, and for Lauri, I’m going to use the short-term projection at $3 million for two years, which I I also did for mine. I gave him a bridge deal. So, if the Bruins signed all of those players at those projections, they would be left with $15.7 million in cap space. Bridget and Scott, I don’t know about you guys, I want Boston to have a little bit more than that. And so with that, I think we can start to maybe talk about these players and and what they should sign for. I don’t know if you guys have a unanimous contract of from from those projections that you don’t have an issue with and we can decide on those right now. Um maybe to get those off like like for example not not to be funny but like Moratus Nadino for less than a million at two years like I I would be fine with that. Yeah, same. That that that’s the one where I’m like I don’t even really have to try to negotiate or do anything with that. Like that works. 925,000 for Husandino. Yeah, I think it’s 24. It’s 24 to be specific. But yeah, see I don’t know that is funny why AFP was that specific. 924 over 925. But hey, I’m not going to question them. It It’s because like they’re so they’re very mathematical where it like spits out a very precise number, but yeah, obviously a lot of not all the time, but a lot of contracts do tend to be round round numbers, you know, either end in a five or zero there, but not not every time. So maybe it would be 924. So, I also I updated the cap remaining cap to act like if you were to sign all those RFAS, but I actually am not signing all of those RFAS. I don’t know if there’s anyone you guys think we should not off uh extend a qualifying offer to of that list. I I can move on from Johnny Beecher. I also was not extending a qualifying offer to Johnny Beecher. So before before we get there, even though you guys just got there, so just to be clear, so so we’re crossing Koozie off like he’s off. He he is being signed for two years at 925 924. We’re good with that. So So let’s just account for that contract now. Um, and as far as Beecher goes, the one if the 1.5 is a is if there’s no ability to come down from that, then he is he he is I am not qualifying him. I wouldn’t sign him for personally, I wouldn’t sign him for more than maybe 975. That’s just me. Um, so if it’s something like that, I would consider it. But if you guys don’t think that his representatives will will bite on that, then I’m gone. Then I’m done with them. Yeah. I mean, I I think he probably ends up signing for less than one and a half. Like I I just don’t really imagine a guy who at one point went 70 plus games without scoring a goal going for one and a half million. But um even at a lower price, I think I’m just willing to take take my chances elsewhere. You know, look, Beecher does some things that I like. He is pretty good defensively. He can kill penalties. He’s fast. Um, but I I need fourthlininers who either bring some offense or bring some energy. And I don’t think he brings enough of either. Yeah, I agree. I I I I don’t even beyond the the the scoring struggles. Um the speed to me is not utilized nearly enough or effectively enough. And so I I just don’t think he makes plays at a high enough level u to be honest with you. And so like I said, if unless he was willing to to sign for for for you know 975 or less than a million, that’s that’s what I would have to even that’s what it would have to be for me to consider keeping him. Uh, so but to your point, Scott, even in that situation, I’m not in love with the player either way. So if you guys are okay with moving on from him and letting him test the waters and then I am too. So we can make that decision right now. All right. I think that that’s that’s probably done. Um, and I Yeah, when I was considering it, I just felt like the writing was kind of on the wall. um and that there were just though he was with the team the whole season and I guess he was a little bit banged up. He mentioned in um breakup day, it just felt like he didn’t do enough to keep himself in that fourthline role and there are just so many guys in the system around the league that can fill a fourthline role and potentially provide more of an offensive upside or, you know, have their own dynamics to bring. And now that they have Fraser Minton in the system and they have they I feel like they just have these other options and that um each probably I wouldn’t be surprised if Don Sweeney said go ahead and uh test test the rest of the league out because I don’t think they’re going to give him an offer. But okay, so who’s the DNA we have on the books for 924? Beecher. We are going to let him move on. Uh, Jacob Loco, I let let’s just go to him real quick. Just I think it’s easier maybe to get these smaller ones out of the way before we go to the other two. But Jacob Loco is projected 1.17 million uh I believe is what I said. His current cap hit is 787500. Um, I like Loco. I think he brings some of those intangibles that Scott is looking for in in a role that Beecher was playing. Just somebody who could provide energy, use their speed and tenacity. But has Jacob Blco earned that that much of a raise for what he is and what he does? I think 117 is a little expensive. I’m not really too up in arms about it, but I would like to still get him closer to a million, maybe a little bit less. Yeah. And and I think you can because like I don’t think he’s I don’t think he’s done enough to earn a whole lot of a pay raise. So yeah, I I would be interested in keeping Loco around at a million or less, which seems doable to me. I guess if for some reason he’s looking for more than that, then then you let him go. But I’m kind of going to operate under the assumption that he likes it here and isn’t exactly going to drive much of a hard bargain. He doesn’t It’s not like he had a great season. Like he doesn’t have a lot to stand on, but you like his energy. you like kind of the presence he brings to to the team and to the room. And he also feels like someone who, you know, I think can be a 13th forward. Like if you’re just thinking about rounding out a roster, right? We’ve we’ve talked before like you can’t have a younger kid in a 13th forward or seventh defenseman role because if they’re still developing, they need to play. You know, like that’s why like when Jacob Zaboro was the seventh defenseman and he went like two months without playing a game. It’s like that wasn’t ideal for anyone. You know, there there’s that’s not going to work. Like Loco, I think, is kind of at a point where he’s not really developing anymore. You know exactly what he is. He doesn’t have to be in the lineup every night. So, he sort of fits that role nicely, I think. Okay. So, I had him I sorry, I had him as my extra forward in my math. So, and I I’ll just say I like the energy he brings. I think that for I had him in at a million just to keep it round. Um a million- dollar contract to fit under the cap. Uh, I think that’s probably pretty fair for him and he adds a little bit of an extra element of, you know, he’s got a little bit of an edge and he’ll he’ll fight, he’ll protect his linemates. He, you know, I I I don’t see any issue with bringing him back. So, he’s another RFA I would sign. Okay. So, Scott, do you have any do you have any rebuttals to the million dollar price tag or is that good for you? No, that’s fine. Okay. So, one year, 1 million for him. Sounds good. I I I think you could probably get him even less, but like let’s just say like that works. Okay. All right. Moving on. Do you guys want to go to Lorai or do you want to go to Geeky? I think Geeky first. Yeah, let’s do Geeky. He’s He’s the big one. Okay. So, what did I say he his projection was? Uh, boy. Four years. Four years. Six and a half is what? Four. Yeah. Four years. Six and a half. Okay. So, you know, I understand that there’s an argument to be made. He’s a 30 goal scorer and that the price tag for that benchmark is what it is on the open market, especially on the open market if you’re a UFA. But for me, I look at him and I say, well, he’s not a UFA, he’s an RFA. And I do think that gives the team certain control in the situation. And I don’t look at somebody who scores 30 goals once, whether it’s Morgan Geeki or anybody else for that matter, and say, “Okay, they’ve earned this for the next six years.” Because there’s a lack of track record there, whether it’s the player’s fault or not. Maybe the player is only 23 and he hasn’t had so many chances to get be a 30 goal scorer. I’m not saying Morgan Geeki can’t be a 30 goal scorer for the next six years or five years or four years, but I personally have a tough time paying this price tag for somebody who’s done it once. And I’m not just taking away from what he did. I’m just trepidacious giving him a $6.5 million annual value right now. And and I don’t know if you guys are comfortable with that. I would like to see him more between five and five and a half, but I’ll let you guys give your opinions on the 6.5 and what you think he should be at. Yeah, I think I think realistically he’s probably going to get more than than five, five and a half. I look at this and I see four years, six and a half million. And can we negotiate that to maybe giving an extra year and getting it down closer to six? like can can we eventually negotiate towards 5 years 6 million a year and that becomes a deal that I would be okay with. I I guess ultimately if push comes to shove 4x six and a half I I think I would do. Um but I’ve had five by six in my mind for for a while and that still feels like kind of the right number to me. Six and a half a does feel a little high. It does feel high because of the restriction, right? Like being in RFA, you kind of got to imagine that you don’t quite have the same leverage. So, I do think that you probably could get him at 6 million, but do you guys want to just go ahead with a 6.5 just for in in the, you know, with the idea of the exercise being we have to try to fit under the cap and in case like they do have to give him extra, you know? I mean, I I’ll I’ll be honest like his his most recent cap hit is 2 million. True. Like I I I I think I think a 30 goal season, which is great. I I think to Is that Is that Is that a four and a half million dollar raise? I I I have a tr I have trouble doing that. And I guess like if if you’re telling me do you keep him at 65 or or he’s gone. I just think the Bruins are in a situation where Beggars can’t be choosers and and and they’re not really in a position for this and I think that maybe the player and his agent know that. I still am not comfortable with 6.5. I mean I if based off what you guys are saying for me best case scenario would be would be 575 but if but but I I I would go to six or or or low sixes but I’m but I have a tough time looking at 130 goal season and again I’m not trying to discredit it but is that a $4.5 million raise $30 million season? I know the market dictates those things and and I’m not trying to make it black and white, but I don’t know. That’s just a lot. That’s that’s a big that’s a hefty raise for a 130 goal season. Yeah. I think I think I don’t think you can really look at how big of a raise it is because I mean a player could go from a rookie contract making 900,000 and their next contract could, you know, it’s just like what are they worth? Just what does the market dictate is their worth? And I think the reality is that with the cap going up, I’m not going to say every guy, like I’m not going to box myself in, but I think most 30 goal scorers are, I think, easily going to be clearing five million and probably into the six plus million dollar neighborhood. Now, one thing worth considering here is, you know, because we have to account for everything. So, we got to plan for this. What if say you know we don’t get we don’t get geek obviously we’re issuing Geeki a qualifying offer we’re keeping our rights on him. Let’s say we don’t get an extension done by July 1 and now other teams can potentially offer sheet him. So to set this up the the offer sheet threshold for restricted free agents. So we’re talking about this like anywhere from five and a half to six and a half. So that would fall into a threshold of offer sheets from 4.68 million to 7.02 million per year. The compensation for that is a first and third round pick if the team chooses not to match. If someone went over 7.02, say offered him 7.1 million a year, the Bruins could take that and get a first, second, and third round pick. So, I’m wondering, are you guys open at, you know, are you gonna say someone comes in and offers him 6.7 a year? Are you going to match or you going to take a first and third round pick for if they offered 6.7 a year? Yeah. Say like high sixes. Yeah. Seven or 68. Here, you would have to be literally throwing away your se like not necessarily like fully throwing away your season, but like you you’d have to that would really change what you do this season. like whether or not you’re thinking of of trying to get back to the playoffs and like if you can’t manage to add someone in free agency to fill that gap like but I guess you could I mean I guess it’s somebody takes them you get the picks you then have that theoretically about six million that you thought you were going to spend on them to go do something else but then you have now you have this extra hole which and it’s a first line hole and it’s not an easy hole to Yeah. And it’s it’s a chemistry with Posanar Cole. You already know Morgan Geeky has it. There’s no guarantee that okay, well, we let him go. We take the picks. We’re going to turn turn around spend 7 million on someone else or, you know, even more than that on a first liner. Like there’s no guarantee that guy has chemistry with Postnak. Well, and the great equalizer is that the salary cap continues to rise. Again, right now we’re talking about a 955 cap and two or three seasons from now we’re talking about a cap of 113. So all these contracts, they’re around the league. They’re they’re they’re going to they’re going to age better than worse just because of the natural progression of the salary cap. The salary cap was stagnant for a long time. Um I guess guys, we have breaking news. Oh yeah. What? Bruins have signed general manager Don Sweeney to a two-year extension. What? Wow. I thought this was our job. I know. When did they’re taking it back? When did we decide on that, guys? What the heck? This was We just took over. Okay. Well, Scott, I know that probably means, you know, you’ll have to start writing or something soon. I don’t know if But but no, yeah, I can do it after the episode. We’re far enough in here. Okay. So, I mean that that obviously uh wow that that’s a that’s a lot to chew on. We’ll we’ll have to get to that later because we are in the middle of a business meeting guys for crying out loud. All right. So, um throw us off our game. The great equalizer is a salary cap going up. I think push comes to shove. Could you find could you find a top six skill rightwing in free agency for cheaper and take that risk? Because ultimately you do have to have a lot a bit of a realistic perspective. the Bruins going to go from the fifth worst team in the league, granted with bad injuries and stuff included, to a Stanley Cup champion or contender next year? No. So, like I I know that’s not fun to think about, but like I just you they they do have to tow that line of wanting to be competitive and get better, but if you you can’t let a you can’t let one player that had 130 goals season, you can’t let them take it to the cleaners. I just don’t think the Bruins are in that position right now. So, I don’t like signing geeky for 6.7 million. I’m sorry if if if if he was offer sheet of that. I don’t know if I would match that. But here we’re talking about the 6.5 million. Is there any way that we can get that a little bit between 65 and six here or like I think that it’d be reasonable to say they could get the contract at like 625. I’m good. I’m comfortable with that if you guys are for this and put that in as the number. I think yeah I think you might have to add a year but yeah like I said like the number I would like is five years six million but if we I don’t know we get negotiated up and end up at 625 I guess ultimately I’m okay with that. I’m also okay with five and six. I mean adding extra year is not a pro I’m not concerned about the the term with him. He’s he’s young enough. I mean, if if if if the two of you think because I I do think this is this is an important contract as when it comes to the butterfly effect of the rest of the this series. So, I do want to give this this one some serious consideration. And do you think that six that that five at six is realistic? Because if you guys do, I’m cool with that, too. I don’t I don’t need to go with the four-year projection here if that’s something you think that the player would go for. believe that the Bruins based on comments at breakup day are willing to give a longer contract than four years to him. So like the willingness is there I think I think I think five and six is fair. Okay. So you want me to make that the number in the spreadsheet? I think so. I mean yeah I think that works. These projections that AFP put out, they’re they’re projections and they’re they’re highly educated, but but yeah, I mean, if the Bruins would go five, I mean, then and that could bring it down to six, then I’m comfortable with that. So, we have Hus Nadino at 924. We have Beecher moving on from Loco at a million and Morgan Geeky at 6 million. All right. Also, before we move on to our to Laurai, who I think is probably going to be next, can we just I just want to read the statement from ownership on Sweeney uh getting the extension if that’s okay. Well, do we want to do we want to do finish this exercise and then do that all at the end? Sure. Yeah, that works either way. I just want to say like we’ll we’ll get to because I’m sure people heard us just say, “Oh, they signed Sweeney to a two-year contract extension and we just kind of like blew by.” But we’ll we will talk about it. Yeah. And now we’ll definitely spend some time on it at the end. I think I think Lauraai might be the only RFA remaining. We can we can conclude on him and then see what we have left for salary cap after those contracts that we’ve just come to and we could probably put this exercise for the most part on ice until part two and maybe we can go back to the Sweeney stuff. So, um, okay. So, like we talked about, Mason Lauri has two projections. I’m just going to reiterate them real quick. And I should pull my uh my thing here. Lori. Lori. Lori. Okay. Long-term projection 6 years 5.5 million. Short-term projection 2 years 3 million. Which is the bridge deal that all of us here agree with. That conceptually should be the case. I don’t know how you would I don’t know how that that long-term projection would ever come to fruition based off of last year. No disrespect to the player, but he has a lot to improve on defensively. So, I think the three of us here are very comfortable omitting that long-term projection and working around the short-term one at 2 years, 3 million. How do you guys feel about that that value? I’m I thought that I I was fine with it. I think that that’s probably pretty accurate. I want to negotiate down. Like, I’m willing to play hard ball here because I don’t know what Mason Laurai has done to deserve three million a year. like even with the offensive production and you know, yeah, he did put up some points and we know what he can do offensively. Um, to me, he was a a net negative overall, like especially five on five. He was not real flaws defensively in in his game still remain. Um, I know, you know, in negotiations like point totals are an easy thing to point to. So, I’m sure he’s going to point to other defensemen who, you know, have put up those kind of points. And I think that’s what AFP does. And 3 million seems fair. But is there anyone that’s going to point to the plus minus number? Yeah. I mean, that’s part of it. Yeah. Five on five plus minus, like all of it. So, uh I I’m confident we can negotiate lower than three million a year on a bridge deal. that feels more like a a ceiling to me and I don’t think we have to I don’t think we have to settle for that even if this drags through the summer and you know we’re looking at like getting up against an arbitration deadline. Um like I said this is one where if if Laurai isn’t willing to do say two years two and a half million knock 500,000 off uh I’m willing to play some hard ball here. uh two two years at two and a half is is what I had in my mind as the most that I would give him for the reasons that you have laid out. So I will say that when I was doing this, I kind of just went under the assumption that I was kind of going to get screwed over on some contracts, like I was going to have to overpay on some contracts. And so I went with some of the higher numbers just in my estimates because uh negotiations don’t always go as you as you plan. And I wasn’t just going to sit here and you know get cheap put cheap deals for everyone because that’s what I think that they deserve because you know maybe the market doesn’t bear that out. I was though I think that Laura probably should fall under $3 million. I was kind of looking at that number as like, all right, it’s fair enough that if you’re just trying to if you do really believe he’s in your long-term future to to keep him happy in the short term, maybe you do something like that. Um, and it I didn’t think it really killed you, but I certainly wasn’t willing to do the longer term contract. Um, and the bridge deal makes the most sense. So, I mean, that’s what I’m thinking. I’m thinking he maybe he’s sitting there negotiate trying to negotiate that long term and uh and then so you have to consider that as part of what’s going on with this too. So because he has those two options it’s it’s got probably going to be a pretty difficult negotiation to come to an offer with him. I I guess what I would say maybe as a counter to that is if Mason Lauri is trying to negotiate for a long-term deal right now, to me, he’s kind of negotiating from a low point. Like I would think I would think he might want to do a bridge deal because that gives him two years to prove that he can be a legit top four defenseman. he can improve his defensive play and then in two years he cashes in at again if he believes in himself and bets on himself at a higher AV than what what was the long-term projection 5 point something. Yeah, I think it goes 5’4. Yeah. Like if he proves himself as a top four defenseman in the next two years with the cap going up now he’s looking at like seven million a year. So, I I don’t really I guess I I don’t really know exactly how Mason Laura is wired. Like, does he just want long-term security now or, you know, he seems to me like someone who believes in himself. So, he he might be willing to do the bridge deal. I I just I just think that Mason Laurai isn’t in a position for the Bruins to keep him happy right now. He has a lot to prove for them and I think that’s why you land on the bridge deal. And I just think that the nature of bridge deals, the undertone of bridge deals is prove it. Prove it. You want that raise, prove it. Until then, there’s a reason you’re going to get bridge deals because you have much to prove. So, we’re not going to we’re not going to uh, you know, curtsy to you right now, Mason. Like, you’re going to you’re going to make two and a half in the next two years, which is damn good money in this world. And if you prove to be who you think you are, then you will get that term in value in 2 years time, which is not that long. So again, I just don’t think that you can be the league leader in plus minus and and have demands. I just don’t see it, especially for a young player. And I know he I know him and Sadoraf are both playing over the over their their heads uh playing minutes that they shouldn’t have been playing matchups they shouldn’t have been playing due to injuries to Makavoy and Hemp Lynholm but um for that even even for that reason. So Lori like he may I think the Bruins are penciling him on the third pair next year. So I just think that two two and a half is fair for a bridge deal for a young player that still has very much to prove defensively. His offensive ceiling is is nice but he’s not a forward he’s a defenseman. So my third pair is Laura Peak for next year. So yes and Peak wasn’t a great third pair this year. It was not. But uh when beggars can’t be choosers with the what else you know what what the other ideas were for the roster. Uh that’s kind of what what you have. Um so what’s the final number for this contract annually? I’m okay with two and a half. Yeah, I I feel like we can get there. Like Bridget, you’re right. Like we do have to guard against like are we just thinking we can get like quote unquote team friendly on a bunch of these. But to me that fair that feels fair like like I said it might drag on. This might be hey they actually filed for arbitration and a date gets scheduled and it gets done last minute. Like think Trent Frederick two years ago, right? like Bruins and Trent Frederick filed for arbitration. They put their briefs together. They had a date scheduled and then they got a deal. They eventually got a deal across the finish line before they actually had to go to a hearing. Like maybe this drags on like that, but I think two and a half on a two-year deal is realistic. And and also if you look at this RFA class, guys, this is not the most established RFA class among for for an NHL team. I mean, we’re talking about Houston, who has yet to be a full-time NHL player in his career. Jacob Blco is a fourthline player in this league. Johnny Beecher is a unproven, in my opinion, fourth line player. He’s a fourth in the league, but how good is he at that role? TBD. And then the two prize RFAS we’re talking about is Mason Lauri, a young offensively skilled defenseman who has much to improve on on the defensive side of the puck, which is his position. And then Morgan Geeki, who is a 26-year-old one-time 30 goal scorer, which is great. Looking forward to him being around for the future. But he has he still has some proving to do. And he again, and people are gonna keep knocking him for the fact that he only plays with Passnack when he produces at this level. Well, fine, but like he’s Passion’s not going anywhere. My point is none of these RFAS are in a position to demand more than what their projections are. And in most cases, I I think these projections are just slightly high. And and these players are not in powerful positions based off of uh tenure and pedigree in the league in my opinion. So if we’re talking about if if like if like if if let’s say like Pavle Zaka for example or what was a was an RFA right now somebody who’s been around for a little bit at least has you know two or three seasons at around 60 it would be a little bit tougher I think to knock that down but these players they’re young enough and they’re improved enough where I don’t think we’re looking for the the cheapest deals I just think that these players aren’t in major positions of power right now and yeah and the the RFA a status as well, you know, right? Um, I did find some of the projections to be low. Not I’m not saying on any of the guys we just talked about, but there was when I was going through some of the UFA numbers, they had Brad Marshon way lower than what he’s going to get. Like Marshon’s getting over 7 million. I think they had him projected at like five and a half and um that was way low. Uh so anyway, yeah, that’s why I had to though we used those projections as a good way to kind of compare. We did kind of I’m sure all in our own mind go that’s not I don’t think that’s what’s going to happen because if that was the number for Marshon the Bruins would have just signed him and like his they already offered him more than that. So they already offered him more than that. So he’s obviously getting like he’s gonna be getting seven or more. So, um, so yeah. Anyway, uh, did we want to get to the UFAS? Uh, well, I think so just real quick before we So, right now with these contracts, okay, we have, and I don’t think I’m mistaken. I think we’re at 18,394 3333. That’s our updated cap space remaining. I believe if we’re talking about 924 from Houston. Yeah. Yeah, you’re right. 1 million from Loco, 6 million from Geeky, and 25 for Lorai. We didn’t qualify off for Beecher. So, right now we are at 18 million 394 333. This is excluding adding back in Apatra or a Frasier Minton or something like that who are currently on the Providence books. That to me is a pretty good place to be when we’re starting to talk about UFAs, which whether it’s Bruins UFAS right now or UFAS in the open market given the part two nature of this and also we want to talk about the Sweeney stuff. Maybe we can leave this here if you guys are comfortable with that and then pick up the UFAS in part two. Yeah, that makes sense. Man, I spent so much my time yesterday on stuff we’re not talking. We’re doing a Thursday. Relax. Patience. Patience about it, guys. I love patience. Part two. Part two. Uh, okay. So, before we talk about Sweeney, we have hired Marco Sturm as the Boston Bruins next head coach. We have signed Moratus and for two years, 924,000. We are moving on from Johnny Beecher. We are signing Jacob Blco to one year, $1 million contract. We are signing Morgan Geeki to 5 years at 6 million. And we’re signing Mason Laura to a two-year $2.5 million bridge deal. And that leaves us with a cap space remaining of 18,399,000. I can’t read my own handwriting. Is it 399? 38 394 I think is what you said. My handwriting is brutal. So that leaves us with 18,394, 333 of cap space heading into UFA. Yeah. And we’re now up to we’re up to eight forwards, five defenseman, two goalies under NHL contracts. And as as we mentioned before that as of now does not include like Frasier Mint and Matt Potra or anyone else in Providence yet. Cool. Very fun. I know. I know Bridget’s itching, but we, you know, we’ll get there Thursday. Don’t worry. That’s the fun. That’s That’s the fun stuff. Don’t give me any more time to overthink this. All right. Major news. We’re just going to show up on Thursday with the Charlie from Always Sunny Pepe Sylvia board with just like clippings and red yarn all over the place. Yep. That’s going to be my backdrop next week. I’ll have to move the the Scots Pops signature. All right, guys. Major news just broke. We’re going to touch touch on it briefly because we have to we have to take advantage of breaking news. Clearly Don Sweeney being resigned for a two-year extension right now. I do think that this has somewhat to do with the coaching search. I do think that there is something to be said out there despite Don Sweeney saying at the end of the year press conferences about, hey, no one’s going to not take a call for the Boston Bruins head coach, one of the most historic jobs. Well, 15 people have taken the calls. He’s he’s right about that, but there’s there’s still a step to be had when it comes to actually signing the contract. I do wonder if his his uh what’s what’s the phrase that people say when uh someone’s on the last year of their contract? Lame duck. Lame duck. I knew it was some sort of animal. Um lame duck may not have been lame the lame otter may not have been great for coaches trying to sign here because like oh what if Sweeney gets fired? What does that mean for me? Well now now prospective head coaches know that Don Sween is around for two more years. Uh so there’s that. Yeah, that that was kind of where my mind went is, you know, because look, I asked Cam Neily about this on breakup day, you know, would they would did did he want to extend Sweeney now or could he go through the season uh without an extension in place? And Cam Ney at the time said he was still thinking about it about what his decision was going to be. uh obviously has now made a decision and I think it’s absolutely fair to wonder if the coaching search is a factor here you know um yeah it’s one thing as you said it’s one thing for sure anyone’s going to take the call it’s the Boston Bruins and there’s only 32 NHL head coaching jobs there’s probably 300 coaches who want them so yeah of course they’re going to take the call um but like you said then committing to the to a team depending on what caliber coach you are or what your other options might be. Uh I do wonder if that came up, you know, whether it was, you know, made clear to be a like a sticking point or or, you know, I don’t know if it rose to a level of like guys, candidates not wanting the job. I’d be a little surprised if it got to that level, but I do wonder if it was a question that came up, you know, like, hey, I know you’re on the last year of your contract. Uh, what does that mean for me if Don Sweeney isn’t extended? And, you know, like Cam Ney can come down and be like, “Oh, you’d be safe. Like, don’t worry about it.” But what if the next GM that they hire a year from now wants his own coach? Like, it’s I highlighted this at the time. That’s why I asked Cam the question like it’s it’s completely fair to to wonder how coaches would approach that and whether it would hurt them at all in their search. So I think this does now provide more certainty. Um it’s obviously not the only reason you do it. If I think if Cam Ney had concluded that you know he doesn’t really want to commit to Don Sweeney moving forward, you’re not going to do it just because of the coaching search. Um, but I can certainly see that being a factor in kind of nudging him in this direction. And just to like fully clarify too, like this is a two-year contract extension. He will be here for three years now. Like he’s under contract for the next three years is the total. Yes. Um, so through through the 2027 28 season, so that’s three three years that he’s at least under contract. Um, and I guess that is kind of like a a little bit of a cyber relief for a coach that, you know, they they trust him. And I don’t know about you guys, but on breakup day, I didn’t get any indication that they were ready to move on from Don Sweeney. I thought that everything was pretty positively said. And I want to read the statement that we got from uh Camille about uh, you know, the decision. said, “Uh, Don has navigated a disappointed period for our club with conviction, purpose, and a clear vision toward the future of the Boston Bruins. He made difficult decisions around the trade deadline with the confidence they will pay dividends as we craft the path back to contention. He is continuing to follow that track with a robust and thorough search of our club’s next head coach while also preparing for the upcoming NHL draft and free agent signing period. I am confident in the plan he has followed these past few months and excited for what’s to come for our team. The expectations in Boston have always been clear. It’s about winning championships. Yeah. And I’ll just to add on, I’ll read Sweeny’s statement as well. Uh he says, “I am very appreciative to Charlie, the entire Jacobs family, and to Cam for their continued trust and support. It’s an honor to be part of a franchise with such a storied history and passionate fan base. I fully understand and embrace the responsibility that comes with this role. Our fans have high expectations for this team and so do I. The collective goal is to build a team that makes Bruins fans proud and ultimately brings another Stanley Cup back to Boston. Well, yeah. I ultimately I think that at the end of the season last year, I remember making a comment about I don’t know why the Bruins would sign Don Sweeney to an extension before the season until they see that that he’s done a good enough job with with getting this team back to where they want to be next year. And that was met with the counterargument of yes, but that that could leave vulnerability for a head coach down the line. like what does that mean for me if they if if he goes and and that is that that is actually that counter argument is how it’s actually played out and and I also did kind of change my opinion on that because I I I I saw the merit to that which is yeah that’s not good for head coach to come in with a lame duck GM um so then you would have another counterargument of well okay but why does that head coach have to be or why does that GM have to be Don Sweeney and you can you can fire Don Sweeney in the offseason Bringing a new GM, bring in his his What’s that? Yeah, hire the three of us. Hire us three. Cuz that cuz that’s what somebody could say. Okay, I understand the lame duck GM and that’s tough to hire a coach. So then fire the GM. Fire the GM. Bring in a new GM. Let him hire his guy. Now you got a new GM and the head coach won’t be afraid of a lame duck GM. But to the to the statement that Bridget just read and uh and you Scott, but mainly Bridget’s and how management feels about and ownership feels about Don Sweeney, that clearly just wasn’t going to happen. Like they they are boys, as they say. They are boys. I think he is the smartest, best qualified person to do what they need to do right now and to get themselves back into contention. like they the only way you can read into it is that he I don’t think that they think there’s anybody better. I I think they really trust him. I think that they uh you know take into consideration how highly regarded he is among other GMs or among the hockey world to to be the GM of Canada to I think they see it like they’d be making a mistake if they moved on from him because he would be so highly sought after for by other teams and um you know he’s been there a long time. They trust him. They think the vision is good and they believe he can get it done and so there you go. He gets the extension. Um, and I wonder guys because we know now that there’s been at least that first step of the interview process of getting on like a Zoom call or phone call, like the preliminary getting in touch with people, gauging interest, having some some early conversations. We know that part’s well underway. We know Elliot Freeman was reporting that who aren’t they talking to and it sounded like he had a list of over 15 people that they had already been in contact with. So, do you think maybe this was a theme that came up of concern among some of the the early conversations where where say Sweeny’s talking to them and they say, “Well, actually though, like I’m a little bit worried that if you like me, but then the next guy doesn’t like me, I’m I’m gone. You know, I’m could be gone within a year or two.” Yeah. I mean, that’s that’s exactly what I was saying. Like, I think it’s absolutely fair. I also think it might matter for free agents um you know less so because they’ll just be happy to take the contract but maybe you know maybe there’s free agents out there who want to know that there’s some organizational consistency moving forward and you know there’s not going to be like major turnover in the next year. Um I’ll tell you sounded pretty confident in him. Well, sure. Of course. Of course players are going to say that they have to. Um, but yeah, I mean I I’ve said like I thought this decision was made at the trade deadline. You don’t let Don Sweeney sell the way that he sold, make such franchise altering moves without some assurance that he’s going to be the guy to oversee what comes next. Yep. Like you just don’t. If you think you’re going to have another GM in the summer, then you say, “Don, we’re only making small moves and then you save the bigger stuff for the summer with the new general manager.” And they didn’t do that. They let him do it at the deadline. That to me told me he was at least here through the summer. And then once you do that, it’s like, yeah, you kind of have to extend them because it becomes problematic if you don’t because now how quickly is he trying to build, you know, is he now trying to rush the process of building back because he thinks he’s, you know, GMing for his he thinks he has to make the playoffs next year to save his job and the whole coaching search. Like it’s absolutely a factor. So, um, yeah. Yeah. I mean, I guess like the the big question that we’re we’re not we haven’t even really gotten to yet be because obviously we’re explaining I think why this happened when it did, but I guess the more important question is just should it have happened? Like do you guys think they should have extended Don Sweeney? Be really the two options are extend now for all the reasons we’ve talked about or fire him and have a new GM this off season. Yeah, I mean there’s there there’s realistically what should have happened and then and then there’s what I could have wanted to happen. But in order for Don Sweeney to have been fired, they would have needed a different ownership and a different president because until they missed the playoffs multiple times and they get forced into firing him, he’s their guy whether I like it or not. So, I just don’t see a way where they were firing him because if you’re going to the president’s not going anywhere and and and the ownership is staying the same. So, I for the for the sake of organizational stability, which is what we’re talking about, which is people around the league that are interviewing for head coaching positions, possible UFAS and others, they need to look at the Bruins organization and know that they are stable enough so that their position could potentially be stable in the organization as well. And if Bruins ownership and and Cam Neely have zero intentions of firing Don Sweeney, then the responsible thing to do in that situation is to stabilize Sweeny’s tenure for a little bit longer. Whether Brian would have resigned him or not or Bridger Scott, it it’s the Jacobs are who they are and Neil is who he is. So it’s the people we’re talking about that are making these decisions. I don’t think they had the I don’t think they had the the you know whats to do it because because they like I think Sweeney in a lot of ways is a you know he’s a yes man, but he’s also somebody that they view as credible and intelligent around the league. And so I I I I personally think that I don’t I don’t think Don Sweeney has deserved a three-year tenure right now going forward. Two-year extension on top of a year remaining. I don’t think he’s deserved it. How could you say he’s deserved it? But there’s gamesmanship involved. They’re trying there’s perceptions involved and the Bruins are trying to manage people that might want to enter the organization and people want to organ enter the organization more if there’s stability. And I think that to your point about the trade deadline, Scott, Don Sweeney is not doing that to your point without that stamp of approval from ownership, which is why heading into the deadline, I was petrified that the Bruins weren’t going to do what was necessary, which was sell. Brandon Carlo, Charlie Coyle were not long-term solutions in this organization. They were good players in the here and now in appropriate roles, but if we’re talking long-term, moving off them wasn’t a big deal. Trent Frederick, not a big deal. Marshan is a different story, but they did what they had to do at the deadline, and I didn’t think they were going to do it because I didn’t think ownership was going to give that approval because that was going to concede on the season where they technically still could have made the playoffs. To ownership’s credit, they did give him that green light and Sweeney did do what was what should have been done, but I don’t think that deserves a three-ear a two-year extension on top of a year remaining, but it’s gamesmanship. They’re trying to manage personalities and people entering the system. So, it’s I know it’s it’s not a clear answer, but it’s just difficult because it’s not it’s it’s it’s bigger than just Sweeney is my point. Yeah. And and like it’s hard to answer the should they have game like or should they have moved on because you then have to really deeply consider what the other options would have been like who who is the other person then if it’s not him Scott. That’s right. Yeah. I mean obviously I think that the three of us would be the top candidate but uh beyond that Fluffy and Harry Potter the three-headed dog as the GM. He was still making Harry Potter references after I got back from Harry Potter World. I like it. But yeah, I mean, you look at, you know, this off season like the Los Angeles Kings changed their GM. Uh Rob Blake stepped down. they end up going with Ken Holland who, you know, on first glance has an impressive resume overseeing uh the Wings Dynasty years, but then you look at like how that ended in Detroit with a team that really fell apart once Datsuk Zedberg retired that he was not able to salvage or have a plan uh to get them back on track. Then he he takes over an Oilers team. He inherits McDavid and Dry Cidle. couldn’t get them over the top. They’re now doing better without him. Um, you know, I I don’t know if you move on from Sweeney earlier. Do you want Ken Holland? There’s arguments for and against. The Islanders are in the process of hiring a GM right now. It sounds like their finalists are Mark Berseran, former Canadians GM, and Matthew Dar, who is like the top assistant under Julian Breeze down in Tampa Bay. So, you know, I’ll be honest, like I know I know what the Lightning as an organization have done. I don’t know a ton about Matthew D’Ach individually and like what his strengths would be and whether he’s truly ready. Um, Burj’s time in Montreal, you know, I don’t think there’s like anything super impressive there or certainly not anything that’s any more impressive than what Sweeny’s done. So yeah, like that is the other part of it is, you know, are you making changes for the sake of making change or is there someone you would be targeting that you believe would actually be a clear upgrade? Um because there aren’t there generally aren’t as many like obvious good GM candidates as there are say coaching candidates which is another reason GMs last longer than coaches because they’re at least from the outside there seem to be fewer legitimately good ones out there at any given time. Yeah. So, I I think that they did what they kind of have to do on if we’re being honest. And uh so I think that the only the only other part that you could say, which Brian already kind of did, was um the the other option besides getting rid of him and extending him was to wait out the season and see how he handles the like the rebuild retool from, you know, through the summer through the free agency. But as as Brian mentioned, there were drawbacks to just in terms of having conversations with free agents and coaches and so that is why we were we are where we are. Um they could also get cutthroat too like you never know. I mean they could they could extend Sweeney right now for optics for the outside when it comes to hiring a new coach and just for stability for for the league to look at the Bruins and see some stability now. But that doesn’t prevent them from firing him if they miss the playoffs next year or he doesn’t have to see the end of his contract. Is am I wrong about that? You’re not wrong. I mean, most likely if he now has three years under contract left, I have to imagine he gets through two of them. Again, I kind of said the same thing about head coach. Like I don’t I don’t really see that the Jacobs buying out two years. And in this case, he would be buying out a whole new contract, right? This season is the last season of his current contract. The new contract kicks in next year. So to me, if like if things went bad enough this year that you’re talking about firing Sweeney before his new contract even starts, then at that point you’re also firing Cam Neely. like you have to like that would be that would be such a disaster to buy out a full contract that hasn’t even started yet that I I really can’t see it unless unless things are just like really significantly worse than any any of us imagined this year. Well, but the but the the the reality is they’re starting this this season already missing the playoffs once. So, right. So, right now their their playoff streak is is at or missing their playoffs. The streak’s at one. So, I don’t know if I don’t know if uh Mr. Mr. Jeremy Jacobs would be too thrilled about two playoff misses in a row and then keeping a GM, let alone three. So, you know, if they if they somehow made the playoffs last year and this extension happened and yeah, but I once the Bruins missed the playoffs once, certainly twice, I don’t care how much they like the guy, it things get the waters get murky at that point. Well, but I guess what I would say is you can miss the playoffs this season and still see steps being taken. That’s true. Like maybe maybe you like you like the coach you hired. the top 10 pick you made looks good. Uh you sign someone in the offseason who looks like a difference maker and and all of it still isn’t quite enough to get you in the playoffs because the Bruins are that far away that like there is a pretty big gap here where they can improve and still miss the playoffs. But if you’re feeling good about those things, then you’re probably okay with Sweeney. But if your coach looks incompetent and your draft isn’t, you know, your seventh overall pick doesn’t have a very good season wherever he’s playing this year and you made another big free agent signing that comes in and has an Elias Lindholm kind of impact and you’re like, “What the hell is this?” Like that’s how I think you get to disaster territory where the Jacobs might be looking at wiping out the entire management team and and say Swayman doesn’t bounce back and you you’re responsible for that contract and it’s not and now you got now you got David Passion asking for a trade or somebody like that which obviously I’m being facicious but you know if the Bruins go another year or two missing the playoffs don’t look now But I mean, Passion and Makavoy are approaching 30. Like, they would look around and say, “Okay, where what are we building towards here?” Because I’m not interested in missing the playoffs uh two, three years in a row with no end in sight heading into my 30s. So, that that could be again, this is way in the future. And but you don’t want to get there is my point. And they better be careful. So hopefully they don’t live to uh regret infamously this extension, but I guess time will tell. Yeah, that that probably wraps up for this episode. Any final thoughts from the two of you? No, I think uh you know, maybe we have a I think we covered it pretty pretty thoroughly. Maybe we have a little bit more um you know to discuss if if we see any kind of reports or anything on Thursday I believe is when we’re going to record our next episode. But that will be uh the the brunt of that will be part two of our team building where we will get into uh unrestricted free agents from other teams. Bruins own unrestricted free agents, not that they have that many of them. um any trades we might want to make or offer sheets that we want to send in for other players. So, I’m I’m looking forward to that. I think that I I think look, today was a great episode. Every episode of the Skape Pod is I’m I’m really excited for that one. Like, I think we’re going to have some pretty kind of differing opinions, targets, perspectives of of where to go. Yeah. No, that’s where it get it gets interesting and that’s that’s where I put all of my my mental, you know, my I’m not even gonna say strength. Um, that’s where I that’s where I spent my time. And I can’t wait to see what you say about some of the ideas that I had. What are crazy, but they’re definitely not things we’ve talked about. So, yeah, I I was I was curious to see what number we would come to for salary cap remaining after today. Okay, now that I know what our number is, which is 183 and change, like that is a good basis to kind of heading into the next episode, which also now that Sweeney signed an extension, keep your eye out for that hiring, that that coach hiring, head coaching hiring. I mean, maybe that that that comes this week. Um, sometimes news tends to happen quickly when when the dominoes fall. So, um, anyway, thank you all very much for listening. We hope you enjoyed uh this episode because it was it was fun for us to do. It’s going to continue to be fun. And uh you know, play along in the comments. I mean, let us know if you think we’re absolute morons with some of these contracts or maybe maybe maybe you you would have kept Johnny Beecher no matter what he asked for. But uh in any event, we appreciate the listenership and um we’ll talk to you on on Wednesday, I guess. Thursday. Thursday. All right. Until then, hey guys, thanks for watching Escape Podcast. If you want to see more of our videos, visit our playlist. Not in front of a screen. You can listen to us on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or wherever you get your podcast. Don’t forget to follow us on social media. And if you enjoyed this video, please don’t forget to give us a thumbs up, subscribe to our channel, and leave a comment.

In Part 1 of our 2-part “Bruins Mock Offseason” series, we play GM and pick the next head coach of the Boston Bruins as well as decide on contracts for each of the Bruins RFAs and which RFAs we won’t be extending an offer to. Plus, we talk about the news of Don Sweeney’s contract extension that broke during the recoding.

(In Part 2, we will fill in the roster with UFAs and trades and make the Bruins’ 7th-overall draft pick.)

Jump to:
00:00 – Marchand & Panthers advance
16:00 – Bruins sign new goalie prospect
17:50 – Mock offseason GMing starts – we choose a head coach for Bruins
23:00 – We decide on contract extensions for the Bruins 5 RFAs
62:00 – Breaking: Sweeney extension info and statements

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