Boston Bruins front office facing franchise altering next five weeks

After a disasterous 2024-25 season for the Boston Bruins, a huge offseason is about to kickoff into high gear. After finishing tied for last place in the Eastern Conference, the front office is facing an off-season where they are a lot of decisions that have to be made and made correctly.

Easier said than done given the history of the front office. However, if there is a season where realy no decisions can afford to be wrong, it's this one. It starts with the NHL Entry later this month before free agency begins on July 1. Oh, did we forget to mention that Black and Gold still need a new head coach?

Don Sweeney facing vital offseason of decisions

Back in April, general manager Don Sweeney said that he expected to have a head coach in place by the time the NHL Draft rolls around. Well, over six weeks later, we're still waiting for the next hiring of a head coach behind the bench in what feels like the Bruins doing their due diligence.

Given his history of firing head coaches the last three years, both Jack Adams Award winners, this could be Sweeney's final head coach hiring. How many GMs get to hire and fire as many coaches as Sweeney has in the least three years? To compound matters, Bruce Cassidy went on to win a Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights one year after firing him, then Jim Montgomery was scooped up a week later in November by the struggling St. Louis Blues and he led the to the postseason, coming with seconds of knocking off the Presidents Trophy winning Winnipeg Jets in the first-round.

Then there is the NHL Draft and the seventh overall pick the Bruins have. Drafting under Sweeney has been suspect at best, but now, he's facing a draft where he must get the pick right, as there is a franchise-altering player available. Center would be the wise pick to make, but who knows what will happen?

Finally, after the draft, free agency hits, and with almost $26 million in cap space available, smart decisions must be made. There are multiple needs this free agency again and let's not forget the restricted free agents (RFAs) that Boston must look to retain, including forward Morgan Geekie.

All of this equals a big next five-plus weeks for the Boston Bruins and their front office in an offseason that can either lead to a bounce-back 2025-26 season or create a bigger mess than this past season was. It'll be interesting to see what happens.