I'm curious to see how folks would rate Sweeney on the following criteria, and ultimately what kind of picture that paints.
Drafting
Developing draft picks and young talent
Identifying and signing college free agents
Acquiring NHL talent to fill holes (like Krejci's RW)
Making trades (player for player, player for futures, futures for player).
Trade deadline acquisitions
Free Agency (as in July 1st UFA's)
Getting existing players to sign at discounts
Overall team performance under Sweeney
Drafting: This will likely go against the grain, but despite the players missed in 2015, he's been fairly good at converting draft picks into NHL players. 500+ games already from 2015. Charlie McAvoy and Lindgren should have long careers from the 2016 class, while Oscar Steen has at least shown the ability to play well professionally. Studnicka, Vaak and Bergund look fairly promising from 2017. And the past three drafts have been slim due to draft position and traded picks, but it's still very early to make any determination on them. People are going to shit on his head for his drafting, but if he keeps getting NHL players out of the draft, he's better than most in that regard - some just don't realize how tough it is.
Development: They do what you expect. Shitheads and flat-out busts are jettisoned as soon as they turn pro. The gems are in Boston as soon as humanly possible. The remainder get sifted for age 21. If they look like pros, they're shown time in Boston. If not, they marinate until they get it or waivers/trades/expansion or time simply runs out. The stories we hear about mismanaged development always seems to occur with really bad players.
College FA: Uncannily good. Not sure how they separate the wheat from the chaff so much better than other teams.
Acquire NHL talent: Aside from 2019, absolute dog shit. This is something that should cause Sweeney to hire an assistant that can compensate for his ineptitude, otherwise, this is something that gets a dude fired.
Trades: Pretty dire. Never works to get a 1st down to a 2nd. Continually see other teams trading for Bruins' needs without being gouged. Maybe that assistant should be able to negotiate trades as well.
Deadline: Everyone pretty much sucks at deadline trades, so I don't ding him there. But he should never be allowed to deal with Jeff Gorton again.
Free Agency: Kind of the same thing as acquiring NHL talent. Still, Sweeney's Bruins GM career would probably be extended by several years if he never signs another free agent.
Discount deals: We all know he's good at this. Major failing of Chiarelli's in not utilizing this.
Performance: He's painted himself into a bunch of corners over the past five years, but I'll be damned if he doesn't slip the noose and come out looking better for it every time. Can't argue with t he team's record and playoff showings since they dumped Clode.
I don't like Sweeney. I didn't like him as a player and I never saw the purpose of keeping him around afterwards. But it's very difficult to argue with the success the Boston Bruins have seen under his stewardship.