Sweeney has been the GM in Boston for a decade.
Don Sweeney has one year remaining on his contract as general manager of the Boston Bruins — and that could be his last. President Cam Neely still hasn't decided if he's going to extend the longtime executive, he said on Wednesday.
“I'm still contemplating what the best course of action is,” Neely told reporters at the Bruins' end-of-season media availability. “As I mentioned, I really feel like Don has done a good job here, for the most part.”
Neely continued: “Him and his staff have been very collaborative, I like when I sit in their meetings how collaborative they are. Obviously the year that we had is a huge disappointment, and that falls on all of us, not just Don. I'll that out in the near future whether we are going to re-sign Don or not. But he's got another year left.”
“Our goal is to have a long-term deal,” Sweeney said when asked how confident he is that he will get another contract in Massachusetts.
Sweeney was named general manager of the Bruins back in 2015 — Boston missed out on the postseason in his first year at the helm in 2015-16. But starting in 2016-17, the team advanced to the dance for eight consecutive campaigns, highlighted by a trip to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019.
The Bruins lost that series to the St. Louis Blues in seven games, but again looked ready to compete for Lord Stanley four years later after putting together one of the best regular-seasons in NHL history in 2022-23. Instead, the B's were shockingly upset by the Florida Panthers — again in seven games — in Round 1.
The 2024-25 season has been miserable; the Bruins lost Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm to long-term injuries, ended up trading captain Brad Marchand along with Brandon Carlo ahead of the deadline, and finished dead last in the Atlantic Division at 33-39-10.
Bruins need a new coach
For the first time since 2016, the Bruins are not playing hockey at the end of April and beyond. Regardless of whether Sweeney is kept on after next season, the main item on the agenda is finding a full time coach.
Joe Sacco spent most of the year as the interim bench boss after Jim Montgomery was fired in November. Montgomery was hired by the Blues shortly after and has taken the team back to the playoffs, helping the squad put together a franchise record 12-game winning streak in the process. Sacco finished the year 25-30-7 in an interim role.
The Bruins organization has been criticized for its drafting in recent years; the only roster players drafted during Sweeney's tenure are McAvoy, Jeremy Swayman, Mason Lohrei, John Beecher, and Jakub Lauko.
“I think that our drafting and developing, the narrative there is a little off,” Neely said on Wednesday. “It's been going on for quite some time. It goes back to 2015. It was really unfair to Don. By the time Don got hired, it was late May, draft was late June.”
It'll be interesting to see if Sweeney remains part of the equation after 2025-26 — and whether the Bruins can return to the postseason after a rare miss this year.
