The NHL Draft is now less than 48 hours from getting underway, and the Boston Bruins are facing multiple huge decisions.
All spring and summer long, it's been reported that Boston's on the hunt to improve their center depth and bring in a right-shot, top-four defenseman.
Wednesday, Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney surprisingly appeared to take acquiring a top-line center off the board:
“I mean, our centers, by committee, have done a good job," Sweeney said. "We've actually had players playing on the wing that, when we have injuries, can move into the middle of the ice... So we're fortunate in that regard. Now Matty [Matthew] Poitras comes in, and, he's an option which he went in and played against Florida and Tampa. Our centers are by committee.
"If you can go out and make a trade, in your description of who might be a true number one, then clearly every team wants to do that..." Sweeney continued. "But we feel very good about where our guys are at, and they did a good job this year. So, for me, I don't look at this as a negative right now."
Right in those quotes, Sweeney tips his hand. He revealed that while Boston could use an improvement, he's seemingly comfortable with where the Bruins are at in this point in time.
He also explained that the cost of acquiring one of those players is just too expensive for the Bruins at this point, saying teams value those players higher than almost any other.
Now, this could also be a smokescreen. This time of year is the time when GMs love to throw curveballs, but Sweeney wasn't done.
He finished his answer about looking for a top-line center by stating he hopes and thinks, one of his prospects can pop and become that guy.
"I think the depth of our center position is really good," Sweeney said. "I think with James [Hagens] potentially going in the middle of the ice, Dean [Letourneau] coming in behind it, Will Moore plays the center. We're positioned. We would love to see one of them really, really pop and turn into a star. I don't think that's any different than how [David] Pastrnak turned into a star."
Sweeney tips that James Hagens and Dean Letourneau have incredible potential, that the Bruins think incredibly highly of the pair of them.
What his quote doesn't read as, is a GM going out and looking to get a center at all costs, even if it seems to be a need.
Perhaps Sweeney's most important quote is this one.
"I think everything has to be on the table at this time of the year," Sweeney said.
"Ultimately, our goal is to improve now and moving forward and having depth in positions or having, as I said, maybe it's a younger player that's able to grow into a role and situation as we did with, as I referenced, with both Fraser [Minten] and Marat [Khusnutdinov]. So we may need to identify the next one and, sometimes, that's a half a step back for two steps forward, and that just might be what the deal represents, and you know we'll be open-minded about that."
Sweeney essentially says there is nothing off the table at this point. He said extending Pavel Zacha remains a priority, but with a statement like that, it's clear if the right offer is there, the Bruins will pounce.
