BRIGHTON, Mass. — For nine straight seasons, Don Sweeney added reinforcements at the trade deadline. There were rentals like Lee Stempniak, Drew Stafford and Marcus Johansson. The Boston Bruins general manager took swings for the fences for Rick Nash, Dmitri Orlov and Tyler Bertuzzi. There were home-run keepers like Charlie Coyle and Hampus Lindholm.
A 10th such iteration does not look to be in the cards.
Lindholm is unlikely to return this season because of his broken left patella, which required surgery. The No. 2 defenseman is scheduled for a procedure in the days to come to remove hardware, as Sweeney classified it, that has caused irritation. Charlie McAvoy is out indefinitely as he recovers from an infection and an injured AC joint in his right shoulder.
It will be interim coach Joe Sacco’s job to do the best with what he has. That may not be much if his GM puts current players up for sale.
“Historically, we’ve been pretty aggressive and our team’s been in a position,” Sweeney said on Sunday, his team two slots out of a wild-card spot following a 3-2 overtime loss to the Anaheim Ducks. “I think we’ll take a much more cautious approach as we approach the deadline. That being said, if there are opportunities to improve our team now and certainly moving forward, whether that’s positional shifts or other teams trying to identify what we might have a strength at, we will look at all opportunities to improve our team now, but more importantly, moving forward.”
The latter part of Sweeney’s statement is critical.
Going all in at the deadline has caught up to the franchise. The Bruins are paying the piper for trading four first-round picks — part of the costs of acquiring Nash, Ondrej Kase, Lindholm and Orlov — in the last seven years and falling short on their other selections.
The Bruins currently have six players 25 or younger on the roster. Mark Kastelic (25) is a fourth-liner. Michael Callahan (25) is a depth defensive defenseman. Mason Lohrei (24) has offensive upside, but has improving to do defensively. Oliver Wahlstrom (24) is a regular healthy scratch. Johnny Beecher (23) is a fourth-liner. Matt Poitras (20) may be better off in the AHL.
There is no help coming.
Even if Sweeney wanted to use prospects for immediate assistance, he has little with which to raise a fellow GM’s eye. Fabian Lysell, the team’s 2021 first-rounder, has nine goals, seventh-most on the Providence roster. Dean Letourneau, the Bruins’ 2024 first-round pick, has zero goals as a Boston College freshman.
The window leading into the March 7 trade deadline, then, gives Sweeney a much-needed opportunity to acquire futures, the quantity and quality of which are in organizational scarcity. Concurrently, Sweeney is not interested in ceding draft capital for short-term assistance.
“I’m going to be cautious as it relates to the draft,” said Sweeney, referring to his own picks, “as we make moves, acquire and restock. Can we find players that are a little further along and identify them properly? All the above are all parts of the equation.”
The GM is already speaking about the 2024-25 season in the past tense. Fifty-eight games of treading water, it appears, is enough of a sample size for Sweeney to wave a white flag in terms of being a Stanley Cup contender. In particular, the support system Sweeney designed for McAvoy, David Pastrnak and Jeremy Swayman was not strong enough.
“I’m going to have to unpack a lot of where we fell short in the context of our depth as it relates to Charlie and Hampus going down,” the GM answered when asked about roster shortcomings. “We didn’t get off to the same start we would have liked to have preferred and we have in the past. When Joe took over, he did a very good job in the early going. We had things going in the right direction. Took a turn late January and early February where we started to play more porously than we should as a group. We were chasing offense a little bit. Defensively, we were starting to give up some things. You can’t do that. As the games get tighter, you realize, even in the 4 Nations, that scoring chances are minimal. Players are playing behind and above. We just didn’t do a good enough job collectively as a group. So we started to spring some leaks. That usually shows up in your depth. That’s probably where the shortcomings sit right now.”
Brad Marchand wants to be a lifelong Bruin. The feeling is mutual. Between now and the deadline, Sweeney will speak with Marchand and Wade Arnott, the captain’s agent, to get a better understanding of how to proceed.
Marchand is unrestricted at year’s end. The 36-year-old, the No. 2 scorer on the team (45 points in 58 games), intends to play in 2025-26. One of Marchand’s goals is to make the Canadian Olympic team and continue what he started at 4 Nations Face-Off. If the sides do not progress on the framework of an extension, it’s possible the Bruins trade Marchand.
Trent Frederic, Justin Brazeau, Cole Koepke, Riley Tufte, Parker Wotherspoon and Callahan are also due to be unrestricted. Extensions are not pending for any of them. Of this cohort, Frederic would have the most trade value.
“It’s unlikely we’ll move forward with things other than maybe Brad’s,” Sweeney said of deals for the UFAs-to-be. “You never know. Because it takes one phone call for things to change.”
Sweeney declined to answer questions about McAvoy’s treatment under the watch of USA Hockey. The Bruins made it clear, through their specifically worded statement, they were dissatisfied with McAvoy’s care in Montreal following his Feb. 13 injury. McAvoy was diagnosed and treated for his infection and shoulder injury at Massachusetts General Hospital by Dr. Peter Asnis, the Bruins’ team physician.
“The care Charlie received here is what’s most important from the standpoint of where his health is at now,” said Sweeney. “That’s all that really matters. Dr. Asnis and his team did a great job.”
GO DEEPER
Bruins address Charlie McAvoy infection, potential long-term absence after Team USA injury
(Photo of Don Sweeney: John Tlumacki / The Boston Globe via Getty Images)
