Boston Bruins Grading Sweeney and the Bruins on their deadline moves

[Mr. Make-Believe]

It’s obligatory and it’s here. Good, bad, indifferent, brilliant, atrocious. It’s the annual “Grade the GM” thread.

Click to read more...

 

[Dr Hook]

I like our deadline stuff, very good. I give a B+ because I felt like we gave up a tad too much for Nash (I know, it was the market) and I didn't love the O'Gara trade. Glad to see Beleskey gone and Vatrano to get a chance elsewhere along with Spooner. Nothing to really complain about. Love the pickups of Nash and Wingels, Holden should be a nice depth player for us on D (or maybe more than that, who knows), and Gionta is a safe depth signing. Great job all around Donnie.

EDIT: see a couple have selected D and D-... seriously, fellas, WTF? Looking at who it is, I guess I am not surprised, but wow . . .

 

[Gee Wally]

A-
Added strength to popgun second line.
Added depth on the blueline.
Added truculence on the 4th line.
Got rid of Belesky.

All without giving up anything that negatively impacts the room or robs Peter to pay Paul.

I would have liked an upgrade on the blueline but prices were nuts.
Maybe that comes at the draft.

Overall, a solid TDL by DS

 

[bme44]

I went with B+ ,I think Sweeney did a good job of adding to the team ,and biggest asset lost would be the first in 18.

 

[What The Puck]

Stop renting players on first round picks, especially when it's obvious to everybody in the room the Bruins are not the favorites to win. There's a lot of rookies who will experience their first playoff run this year. Losing Lindgren is a huge risk, in my opinion. Effectively, we got Iginla v2.

My only solace is knowing that Sweeney reaches wildly with the first round pick anyways, so more than likely we probably lost out on 60th overall with that part of the deal.

 

[Donnie Shulzhoffer]

A-

 

[ranold26]

A-.
He would've got an A or A+ if he added a bit more to fully unload the Belesky contract[if it was possible].
That said, he did good imo.

 

[Blowfish]

Wanted more speed but like Nash pick up. B for me.

 

[Mr. Make-Believe]

Do I feel substantially worse about the team’s future assets? Nope.

Do I feel substantially better about the current roster? You bet.

Did he accurately target the areas I felt should have been targeted? Absolutely.

A.

 

[Hali33]

I’ll just copy what I wrote in the other thread. Thought this was one our best deadlines in years.

Reinforced the obvious spots to give themselves a better shot at a decent playoff run without getting crazy.

A-. Good stuff.

 

[jgatie]

Just from the look of those complaining, Sweeney did a hell of a job. I repeat, a hell of a job!

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

B+ ,wish he rid us of all Matt Beleskey"s contract for what we gave up. It will go to an A if the Rangers buy him out which is possible

 

[Don Cherry]

Stop renting players on first round picks, especially when it's obvious to everybody in the room the Bruins are not the favorites to win. There's a lot of rookies who will experience their first playoff run this year. Losing Lindgren is a huge risk, in my opinion. Effectively, we got Iginla v2.

My only solace is knowing that Sweeney reaches wildly with the first round pick anyways, so more than likely we probably lost out on 60th overall with that part of the deal.

For some reason I can't "like" this post, but I want to.

First round picks for two months of an over-the-hill vet is beyond stupid. It will look 100 times worse when we get bounced in the first round. You're right that he would have reached on the pick anyways.

 

[Knotty Moog]

B+

Love Nash and Wingles on this team for the playoffs.

Little dissapointed they didn't upgrade the blueline at all, but honestly the statistics speak for themselves.

We allow the fewest shots and the fewest goals. I think we have a very underated D core.

As Tom would say.... "LETS GO!!!"

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

For some reason I can't "like" this post, but I want to.

First round picks for two months of an over-the-hill vet is beyond stupid. It will look 100 times worse when we get bounced in the first round. You're right that he would have reached on the pick anyways.

For argument sake does your opinion change if they win the cup or go to the finals?

 

[Alberta_OReilly_Fan]

We had 4 players on our team a couple months ago i thought werent guys you can win with at playoff time... spooner before his hot streak... belesky before his demotion... vatrano and postma

Today we got nash, wingles, gionta, holden... to me thats 4 improvements

It cost us our first, 7th, and lingren... and ogara oops forgot him

But we improved our 3rd round pick and reduced our cap hit almost 2 mill each of the next 2 seasons

Wasnt the moves i wanted, but might be the moves we needed?

Going to go b+ but if nash returns to 35 goal form its going to deserve an a+

We dealt from strength and made ourselves better today

 

[KnightofBoston]

I have him a B+ because I thought a A was too generous, but seeing some thoughts from others here (and the low grades given by a few which for me are as good as an A ) maybe an A is warranted.

Only way I could criticize it is it would have been nice if Sweeney got Holden thrown into the Nash deal, maybe for another pick but not a third. Who knows though.

Sweeney had a really nice deadline. The naysaying comments just confirm it for me that some here would just prefer to complain/look at things with a negative spin no matter what. The same folks that constantly criticize the Bruins for not making enough moves now think they shouldn't have because they're not "favorites"

Laughable stuff folks, truly.


I spose we should just skip to the final 4 now and not even bother ?

 

[Don Cherry]

For argument sake does your opinion change if they win the cup or go to the finals?

Absolutely.

 

[Chief Nine]

Do I feel substantially worse about the team’s future assets? Nope.

Do I feel substantially better about the current roster? You bet.

Did he accurately target the areas I felt could have been targeted? Absolutely.

A.

I agree. Gave him an A as well because I believe Sweeney addressed all their wants and needs and also moving Beleskey was a major part of their plan going into this. Plus no major assets went the other way other than their 1st

 

[Chief Nine]

I gave him a D. The only reason I didn't go lower is that he got rid of Vatrano and Spooner and added Wingles. The rest was F-.

This is just rubbish. Rick Nash is a big improvement over Spooner.

 

[4ORRBRUIN]

Absolutely.

Fair enough

 

[BadBruins]

I thought center ice position was an issue. An injury to Bergeron or Krejci and they're in trouble IMO. Even more so with Spooner gone. The focus seemed to be on the wing and depth D. Thought the price for Nash was a tad high. I think he'll be a great fit though. B-.

 

[Rubber Biscuit]

I said B+. That was my first reaction. Come July 1, that could easily change to an A+.

I like the additions of Holden, Nash and Wingels. I'm a little worried about how much production Nash is going to give us, so I'm not sure yet if they overpaid.

I said leading up to the deadline that my focus would be on the wing to either get Krejci a better RW or push Acciari out of the lineup. He did both. I didn't want to subtract from the roster at all, but I can understand moving Spooner. If the Rangers buy out Beleskey, that is huge for us.

Back when the rumors were first coming out about the Rangers blowing it up, the one guy I wanted was McDonagh. However, I'm glad Sweeney didn't pay the price for him at this point. It would have been nice to upgrade the D, but overall I'm comfortable with what we've got back there.

As I said in the deadline thread, Sweeney's put us in a position to have a real shot at the Cup without giving away the farm. IMO, there's not much more you can ask a GM to do.

 

[GloryDaze4877]

I went B because I would have preferred all of Beleskey gone.

I'm probably being a little too harsh.

Also, I didn't realize until this afternoon that the Rangers can buy Beleskey out and the B's would then be on the books for half the buyout (not a bad thing). Gorton and Sweeney go back, wouldn't surprise me if this is what happens in the offseason.

Holden was meh, but I like the additions of Nash and Wingels.

Make it a B+

 

[TCB]

I gave him a B. But it could change as the final exam is worth 100% of the grade, and of course that will be on whatever happens in the playoffs.

The Likes

1)I like the fact that he didn't sit back and do nothing. So he gets props for that.

2) The Nash trade Ive come to like. Spooner is what he is and I really dont see Lindgren becoming anything more than a 5-6 Defenseman. Sure it cost a 1st rd pick but maybe if Sweeney didn't give it up Nash might be else where and it should be a late first. Getting rid of half of Belesky contract in the deal was nice.

3)Holden for a 3rd and getting a 3rd for Vatrano was a wash and Holden gives the Bruins Defensive depth, which you can never have enough of.

4)The Wingels trade I really like! I actually had a post stating Sweeney needs to bring in a Wingels type player for the fourth - line. Must be he does read Hf

5)Gionta signing. He's a leader,great teammate and a very a smart player. That alone will help a lot off the ice even if he doesn't see any playing time but for the cost, a nice depth move.

6) I like the fact that he really didn't disrupt the locker-room. He brought in high character type guys and only Spooner and Vatrano goes out.

The Dislikes

1) I wanted another top 4 defenseman. I felt going in that was the most dire need but not knowing what Sweeney would of had to give-up. I cant complain too much because he did make a big splash with Nash!
2) I would of liked to see the whole Beleskey contract gone but ya I'm nick-picking here but that would of been sweet!