Bruins Front Office is Playing Checkers, Not Chess

Bruins Front Office is Playing Checkers, Not Chess

james Haggins is the Bruins first round pick for Boston
James homie
Oh my god We’re gonna play that a thousand times Uh what do you make of this what do you make of this Bruins first pick in 2025 excitement Aren’t you excited aren’t you You’re not You don’t seem
a little bit in that I like the Well first of all he kind of fell to them right he could have gone higher He didn’t and they jumped all over it and they were apparently reportedly very much against trading away the pick once they knew he was there
I think the story I think the story is
this time last year right this is supposed to be the guy right
yeah I think the story is like you always say I think Sweeney and Neely played checkers Yes that’s what I was saying The approach to me is
they picked the the best guy available
The the approach to me here is about getting the guy with the highest ceiling the guy with the highest ceiling and the guy with offensive upside which for this team well it’s at times is a foreign concept right and so just play checkers Stop playing chess Just play checkers Take the most talented guy on the board And they did that Keep it simple Keep it stupid They They went so far as to not leave town in scouting for this draft They just
some issues there Hey keep it local right keep it keep it local Keep it simple Get the most talented guy That’s what they did
Can’t fault them for that They did They kept it simple Does this give you hope and optimism for this week though um for in what sense
i don’t know Filling the holes correctly They’re doing you know the right thing Keeping it on the straight and narrow They’re not going to do anything crazy in free agency They’re not going to go offboard No I because I think they might be going offboard already So no I do not I do not take this is why it would give me hope that they are not just going to decide to do what Marco Sturm expo sort of said when he took the job which was we don’t have and I’m paraphrasing this is just me taking away all his different commentary from his press conference to his appearance on Felgrim as basically saying we don’t have a lot of great offensive talent so we’re going to have to be a defensive minded team That’s what it sounded like to me Maybe this means they’re a little less focused on that than he would have you believe a few weeks ago No no no I mean you’re still talking about a kid
I know this kid’s 18 He’s 18 He’s And this is uh this doesn’t happen in any other sport I’m not sure if I love it or not but in basketball you don’t have a kid get drafted and then go back to college and play his sophomore year A freshman is drafted and then goes back to to play Now maybe it it would be good in basketball you know So the era of one and done if guys just want to play ball if they just want to play and they want to get drafted you get drafted I know colleges would like it you get drafted and then you go back to school So doesn’t clearly doesn’t happen in football doesn’t happen in baseball but it happens in hockey So you can say “Yeah this is what the organization wants but who knows when we’ll see James Hagens two years three years is he the next?” Not necessarily
Or or is he is he Charlie Makavoy where you see him a lot earlier than you thought
ryan Donado still taking classes Is he like Patrice Berseron who started when he was 18 and uh never never looked back and had a a nice long career productive Hall of Fame career Uh but at at number seven I I wouldn’t expect him Beetle I wouldn’t expect to see him on the Bruins I know he said he has to discuss his options I wouldn’t expect to see him on the 25 26 Bruins at any point in season Would you i’m not No I’m not not expecting that at all No that’s a hard no But next year
no homie
It could be Yeah could be a year away But look how many times do the Bruins get a guy where you say it’s not a reach as a matter of fact there are other fan bases that are disappointed because the Bruins came away with the guy that they wanted and who could have been a you know I know a year is a long time but this time last year talked about as a number one pick uh or a top three pick and you get the guy at number seven Who knows who knows if he can if he can play or not But
that’s my thing though like that that Tavon Wilson moment when your team takes the guy that they don’t have highlights or B-roll of and you’re like
“Yeah
great Awesome we just reached And the only thing that’s worse than that is the Cole Strange moment when your team reaches for a guy and you have no faith in their drafting ability on top of it Like at least at least with Taon Wilson you were still winning 12 13 games going to the AFC Championship I the time Cole Strange gets picked you’re like what what is this organization doing so for the there it is the the Bruins that you had no faith in at least go with the chalk pick which is what you want to see You don’t want to see the Bruins in that situation trade back or take some guy and reach for some player where you’re like “Oh no.” Where the consensus is this guy should have gone 15 20 picks later That’s not what you’re looking for
Can we also bring up this and it’s a thing you mentioned a year ago he was the guy
Well now he’s not the guy anymore
I mean doesn’t that have to be considered yes it is the most talented guy on the board but he also has fallen down that board in a year’s time So the trajectory at the moment is not great He’s not trending up guys He’s not His value has decreased over the last year
from from one to seven though Yeah but that can be a big drop Can it not
you’re still a top 10 guy
Yeah understood I mean there’s plenty of top 10 guys who didn’t pan out Yeah I mean he he shouldn’t I mean theoretically he shouldn’t be there for him but um this is the I mean what is the last time they this is the highest pick they’ve had since what sean
Yes
At at number two
So they usually don’t have top 10 guys and I know uh the fan base is in general is not excited about Don Sweeney and his ability to draft players but in in his defense he’s never is this a good thing or a bad thing he’s never had anybody He’s ever drafted anybody this high He’s never had an opportunity to take players in the top 10 You can miss all the time but it’s e I mean let’s face it it’s easier to pick in the top 10 than it is uh in the second 10 or third 10 right
of course
So if he can’t in that second 10 he doesn’t like at all you know like right in the middle of the second 10 like right around 15
There was once upon a time never mind I don’t have to go down there
10 year anniversary One time they gave him three picks in that second 10
in a row
It didn’t go great Yeah See there’ll be a documentary on that one day
That’s not his spot
But is it fair to say there
is it fair to say that this is maybe this is the actual this is the time where you really figure out who Don Sweeney is as a draft evaluator because you can play games with oh man a lot of guys can’t pick at at 15 or 16 But if you have a pick in the top 10 and you and you screw this up let’s say you’re there are three guys behind him who turn out to be great players
There are plenty of valid arguments for why he the Bruins should have moved on and started over in their front office at this point This should be the last opportunity make or break for Don Swin
Yes
If he blows this pick and this pick does not pan out he has to go Yes This this pick is very important to his future with this team It should be It has to be Number seven overall as you said a top 10 pick Highest he’s ever been able to pick All right there it is If you can nail this well then good At least you’ve got something to build on moving forward You blow it and there are no more excuses And I felt like that was kind of being offered in his commentary when talking about the style of player and ceiling of the player that their draft position was kind of being used as an excuse when he spoke over the weekend I felt that way I’m sure Bruins fans did as well because they can’t stand the guy Well if you say he’s going to be judged who’s judging him right like who’s who’s really evaluating Let me say it this way Who’s evaluating Don Sweeney critically
uh I don’t think I don’t think within the organization within the organization No
Nope
So I I I think for for our information and some people have already made up their minds like I don’t need to know anything else I don’t care what he does with this draft pick I’ve already made my mind up on Don Sweeney But for for our purposes I think we get to see all right this is what he’s really about But the organization I I I hate to say this um Bruins fans I hate to say it I think Don Sweeney is a lifetime Bruin
He’s an appointee
I think I I I think he’s got a lifetime deal with the Bruins As long as Cam Neely is here because Cam Neely is a lifetime Bruin
right as long as Cam Neely is here Don Sweeney will be here All right let’s talk more about that more about why Heagens fell in the draft more on the draft overall the process the broadcast which left some things to be desired [Laughter] Ah
Cam they figure out they figure out that Zoom
You got to turn your mic on You got to turn the mic on And you got to understand there’s someone on the other end
You’re on mute

On Monday’s edition of Zolak & Bertrand, the guys covered the Bruins’ picks in the NHL Draft, and discussed how the team’s front office is changing recruitment strategies.

Thumbnail Photo Courtesy of USA Today Sports

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