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Boston Bruins: GM Don Sweeney Missing the Mark

By Diana Driscoll |

This morning I was reading the news through Yahoo! (I like how it filters news from all different sources) and I can upon a Puck Daddy article written by Ryan Lambert. It had to do with hockey, so of course I clicked on it. What caught my attention was at the bottom of the article; Lambert’s commentary on the Boston Bruins and what general manager Don Sweeney said during a radio interview.

So, for all of you who don’t get why Sweeney made the trades he did just look at the tweet above; it’s as simple as one plus one. But is it really?

Absolutely not. Justifying the trades he made and who he got in return by simple numbers is just ludicrous. Especially when those numbers include Dougie Hamilton WHO IS A DEFENSEMAN and should not be a primary source of production (although the more the better).

And as Lambert pointed out, both Lucic and Smith had down years, while:

Beleskey doubled his all-time best goal total (and still only had 22), and Hayes scored 19, which was eight better than his previous best.—Puck Daddy

So the numbers don’t even really add up and Sweeney’s logic is a bit off too. He just looked at goals. That is it. One set of numbers that happened to even out and that’s his argument? Let’s add one more set of numbers: assists.

Milan Lucic 18 goals + 26 assists= 44 points

Dougie Hamilton 10 goals + 32 assists= 42 points

Reilly Smith 13 goals + 27 assists = 40 points

So those three put together managed to tally 126 points. Now let’s look at Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes

Beleskey 22 goals + 10 assists = 32 points

Hayes 19 goals + 16 assists = 35 points

Hmm is 126 greater than 67? Well, simple math will tell you YES! Each former Bruin listed above scored more points than the two newly appointed Bruins were able to do. So I believe that effectively ruins Sweeney’s argument.

It’s not even just about the numbers. Their overall game and what Lucic, Hamilton and Smith did on a daily basis for the Bruins is going to be missed. The physicality and leadership they brought? I don’t think it could be replicated. Without a doubt, these three players were impactful for the Bruins and their presence will be felt.

I am not saying that the addition of Matt Beleskey and Jimmy Hayes is not beneficial; it is as both players are big bodies and know how to score. But do I believe the Bruins are better off than they were? No.

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Yes, they needed to lose players due to cap issues, but they have given up a whole lot and haven’t really replaced those everyday players this offseason (yet at least). Maybe if the Bruins are lucky, they will get another career performance by Beleskey and Hayes will increase his production, but who is going to do the little things, the intangibles, the things that don’t have their own stats but are just as important to winning as the rest?

I’m not so sure.

Sweeney— moving forward you are going to have to come up with better explanations. Look you’re the GM, you don’t have to justify all your actions (even though we all might take offense if you don’t). But when you do try and explain yourself do it in a way that actually makes sense.

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