Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney sends message to players ahead of training camp
The Boston Bruins will officially begin training camp for the 2024-25 season Wednesday at Warrior Ice Arena. Once again, third-year head coach Jim Montgomery will have some additions to his roster along with some key subtractions.
As the offseason concludes, GM Don Sweeney brought in a top-line center in Elias Lindholm, a physical defenseman in Nikita Zadarov along with beef and toughness for the bottom six. With the camp opening, Sweeney sent a message about how the training camp would like to be run by Montgomery.
Bruins Don Sweeney sends message about training camp to his players
Last season as the Stanley Cup Playoffs went along, it was clear that the difference between the Bruins and Florida Panthers was the speed the Panthers had compared to the Black and Gold along with a lot of beef and a physical lineup. Sweeney addressed the latter in free agency, now Montogmery appears to address the speed over the next couple of weeks.
“Early on, he (Montgomery) is going to want training camp to be a certain pace,” said Sweeney. “If bigger guys can’t keep up, they’re not going to play.”
Looking back to last spring, if the Toronto Maple Leafs had a little more speed than what they had against the Bruins, maybe they get the monkey off their backs and they eliminate their Atlantic Division rivals rather than losing on a David Pastrnak Game 7 overtime game-winning goal. Instead, they failed to mount a 3-1 series deficit.
For the Bruins going into 2024-25, adding speed with beef in their lineup is going to be huge. If there is one takeaway from the final four teams left standing in the Conference Finals, it is the speed that all four teams had. If the Bruins are going to compete with the bigger and faster teams in the NHL, they will need to match them and it appears that Sweeney and Montgomery are going to send that message early and often in training camp.
There were conflicting reports on Tuesday regarding the status of Jeremy Swayman’s
contract with the Boston Bruins. Rob Reinhart of The Herald tweeted that Swayman and the Bruins had agreed to an eight-year, $8.5 million extension, much to the excitement of Bruins fans. However, Rich Keefe of Jones & Keefe later clarified on Wednesday that no deal had been finalized.
Further adding to the uncertainty, Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney confirmed on Wednesday that while he’s disappointed a deal hasn’t been reached, he remains optimistic that an agreement will be finalized by December 1.
This is the deadline for Swayman to sign a contract for the 2024-25 season.
The delay has raised concerns about the Bruins’ goaltending situation, leaving fans to wonder who will man the crease if negotiations drag out. With limited options, Boston may have to rely on an unproven AHL player or the league’s statistically lowest-ranked goalie in their quest for stability between the pipes. Head coach Jim Montgomery says he’s confident in the team’s group of goalies outside of Swayman.
