Restoring the Roar

It's that time of the year when hockey stories generally dry up, and other than Las Vegas naming their first General Manager in George McPhee and a few superstars locking themselves up for the foreseeable future with their current teams, this is where I reach for stories.

I'm in luck, as the team that is trying to get its "Big Bad" image back to life is at the center of the discussion. Yes, the Boston Bruins have fallen on some hard times since winning the Stanley Cup in 2011, from a missed opportunity to win their second in three years to the salary cap mess that left them unable to keep many of the players that are flourishing elsewhere to Don Sweeney (pictured) trying his best to clean up the mess his predecesor Peter Chiarelli left behind when he was canned in 2015.

So, that brief history is established, and now, let's look at how Boston got to this point.

• The Tyler Seguin trade of Summer 2013: there had been rumblings of Seguin and his affinity for the nightlife during the 2013 playoffs. While there wasn't anything truly alarming, the Bruins sought fit to trade Seguin along with Rich Peverley to the Dallas Stars for Reilly Smith, Loui Eriksson, and Joe Morrow. While Seguin has put up the offensive numbers expected of him when the Bruins drafted him in 2010, Smith never really established himself and was traded to Florida prior to last season while Loui Eriksson signed with Vancouver recently after some bouts with inconsistency, with injuries playing a role in that. If Boston is to salvage anything now, it's up to Morrow, who has still yet to crack the regular six on the Bruins' blue line.
• The ornerous contracts handed out to the likes of Milan Lucic, Dennis Seidenberg, and Zdeno Chara. While those were looking good when the Bruins were doing well in 2011-2013, it became an albatross by the time Chiarelli was fired in 2015. Lucic was traded in one of Sweeney's first moves as General Manager while Seidenberg was recently bought out. Chara is still around, but at 39 years old, is losing the battle with Father Time.
• Sweeney's first moves were trading Lucic and Dougie Hamilton for draft picks, as well as Martin Jones, who didn't stick around long enough to even get a number. The Lucic/Jones and draft picks trade would have been great, but the Bruins still have Tuukka Rask in goal, and Jones wasn't about to unseat him, so they flipped Jones to San Jose for a first round pick in 2016. Jones only went on to help lead the Sharks to their first ever Stanley Cup Finals appearance while Rask was at home once again for the playoffs. As for Hamilton, any goodwill that was left over from the Phil Kessel Trade of 2009, which includes Seguin, died with the Hamilton trade. While Hamilton was slow to adjust to his surroundings in Calgary, he did show signs of life. Boston could have used him, as depth is now suddenly an issue.
• The contract given to Adam McQuaid happened around the time Hamilton got traded. While McQuaid is the kind of player Boston covets, he's also been rather injury prone and isn't more than a good third pairing player.
• The draft picks dating back to 2011: Of the picks in 2011, only Alexander Khokhlachev remains in the system, and he's been grumbling about his place in the Bruins' system. 2012 has been slightly kinder, though Malcolm Subban is still in the AHL. Seth Griffin and Matt Grzelcyk also remain, and both figure to compete for a spot on the Bruins this season. 2013 was far less kind, as no one's really stepped up there. 2014 produced David Pastrnak, who is looking for his breakout year while 2015 and 2016 figure to be a litmus test on just how well Sweeney can pick out the talent.
• The David Backes contract earlier this month. They overpaid here, but he provides leadership and depth down the middle. Losing Eriksson will hurt, but it does open the door for Pastrnak here, as he figures to get the ice time that Eriksson had last season while Backes figures to at least make three lines with strong centers, provided David Krejci can remain healthy.

To say the Bruins have had an interesting slide from the top of the mountain in five years is an understatement. Obviously, getting themselves out of a bind with the salary cap was priority one, which they did, though some moves were more questionable than others. Now, it's about finding out if the Bruins will have a smoother transition to life after Chara and Patrice Bergeron, though Bergeron still has at least five good years left.