Disarray in Boston

When Peter Chiarelli was canned as the Boston Bruins' General Manager a few months ago, one of the reasons for his firing was the mismanagement of the salary cap, which forced the likes of Johnny Boychuk and Jarome Iginla out of town prior to this past season.  Well, meet Don Sweeney, the new General Manager, and to say his methods of trying to get within cap compliance are interesting is an understatement.  Let's look at last weekend for proof:

• The Bruins trade away Dougie Hamilton to the Calgary Flames for their first round pick, as well as both second round picks.  You can say the Bruins were looking to the future, except that Hamilton is 22 years old and entering restricted free agency.  In short, the Bruins seemed to panic when they thought, or likely knew, that they weren't going to be able to sign Hamilton to a new deal, not knowing that they could have waited for another team to make an offer and reap whatever compensation they would have gotten had they not been able to match.  For that time in between, they could have found other methods to cut costs.  Instead, they send off one piece of what should have been their future on the blue line.
• The Bruins trade Milan Lucic to Los Angeles for their first round pick plus goaltender Martin Jones and defenseman Colin Miller.  This haul looks much better, as it is possible that the Bruins could move Jones if they believe Malcolm Subban is ready before the start of the regular season and Miller could also be on the NHL roster to start the season, as well.  They also move a rather inconsistent player in Lucic, who can be dominating at times, but also is prone to mailing it in, as well.
• There had been talk of the Bruins trying to use the picks they acquired to move up in the draft, likely to the third overall pick held by Arizona.  That didn't happen, so they were stuck with three straight first round picks, which turned out to be (in order) Jakub Zboril, Jake DeBrusk, and Zach Senyshyn.  To say the Bruins reached on at least two of those players would be correct, but as is always the case, the Draft is an inexact science, and maybe all three players will pan out in time.  Then again, maybe not.
• With the Carl Soderberg trade prior to the Hamilton and Lucic trades, that also leaves the Bruins with some holes to fill.  Putting it all together, the Bruins weren't getting any younger on the blue line, and though Miller is likely to fill one spot, it only looks like a lateral, since Hamilton was moved, as well, while the likes of Zdeno Chara and Dennis Seidienberg are clearly not getting any younger.  Patrice Bergeron is still great, but where is the offense going to come from outside of David Krejci and Bergeron?  Is David Pastrnak ready to be a full-time contributor?

While Tuukka Rask will likely keep the Bruins in playoff contention next year, he will have to be the next coming of the 2010-11 Tim Thomas if they hope to be there as currently constituted.  The Bruins lost a fair amount and didn't do enough to compensate for those losses.  The free agency period begins Wednesday, so maybe things can change.  Then again, the Bruins still have cap issues, so maybe not.