QUOTES End of Season Media Availability Tuesday, June 15, 2021

BOSTON BRUINS GENERAL MANAGER DON SWEENEY… On ... Obviously, Tuukka has to have the offseason surgery and reevaluate how he’s doing coming out of that. As he mentioned, he knows he’s had a torn labrum and wants to make sure that Dr. Kelly, who’s likely to perform it, that there are no surprises and then go from there. He indicated to us that he fully intended to rehab with the intention of coming back and we’ll go through our meetings and such and go forward. But we have to factor in that he could be a part of that. Whether or not that means that the two young guys get the bulk of the work in the early going and see where Tuukka comes, or we go to augment our group and create internal competition and then reevaluate how Tuukka’s doing coming out of the rehab process.

On if he thinks Tuukka gave them the best chance to win... I think Bruce described yesterday the process that we went through. Had some challenges throughout the year, from a maintenance standpoint. The hit sort of aggravated his back, took some time. Obviously, we had the advantage of allowing Jeremy and even Daniel at that point in time to play some games. Jaro was out with COVID. We got a birds-eye view of how those two young kids were going to react in situations and we felt comfortable either way with whatever direction we were. We went with Rask in the Washington series, he played really well. We felt all along, we had this same mindset — I think everybody would agree, over the past few years — we were going to manage the starts and the workload of all the , and rightfully so. It turns out, the vast majority of teams have used two goaltenders, even in the playoffs. Not something that I think you have to be aware of going forward, I think you may have to. Whether that’s performance based or injury based. In hindsight, Game 5 would probably be the only one we’d second guess in that, right? Because Tuukks didn’t feel his best in that particular game; the other games, he felt fine. We established that he was fine to play in Game 6. Second guessing is not part of it. Reevaluations and of whether or not we can make better decisions and what puts all of the players and the team in the best situation to have the most success is really all that matters.

On going with Swayman or Vladar as goaltenders... Again, times going to tell whether or not one of them is going to be a number one in the . I think we’re very comfortable with the depth in the organization having those two young players. We’re in the early stages of learning if Tuukka has decided to have surgery, and we have to make a decision. If we’re going to go to market and bring in a player that we feel is ahead of those two players or certainly from an experience standpoint, or we do roll the dice a little bit, allow those guys to see if they can handle the workload, which is a tall task. Make no mistake about it, it’s a tall task. Small sample size of Jeremy, he played extremely well. Daniel played well in his starts. Obviously, had an overall hiccup as a team, I think we were pretty beaten up the one night when we played Washington at home. But Daniel acquitted himself very well, particularly against Pittsburgh on the road in that game he played. Again, we’re still in the early stages and feel comfortable with the depth. But we have a very crucial decision to make and chart a course for certainly the first part of the season as to when Tuukka will be ready. We have to forecast that accurately if Tuukka does decide to come back and play and how he fits in.

On David Krejci and Taylor Hall’s contracts... In talking to both players at the end of the year, and even when Taylor got here, he’s expressed interest, mutual interest, to have him back. Had an early conversation with his representatives and obviously, we’ll have to see where all of the pieces fit together. In David’s case, it’s very unique in the fact that he would like to continue to play with the Bruins, he’s obviously interest that he may return home at some point in time. Whether that’s next year or down the road. His family dynamic is important to him. He’s asked to have a little bit of time in the next few coming days to allow him, on his own, to have conversations with his family and then we’re going to sit back down and have a real honest conversation. I do believe David does want to continue to play and he’s made it pretty clear that he if he’d like to continue his career, this is the place he’d continue to play should he chose to stay at the NHL level.

On the back end... Well, we did make a change. Certainly, both of the players that had left chose a different path, and we respect that. I would like other people to respect the decisions that we’ve made since in allowing the younger players to have some of those prime minutes and see if they can continue to grow. I think we did an adequate job throughout the course of the year. We certainly had some challenges. We had eight concussions alone on our back end. So, you’re mixing and matching, and we had some players come in like Jarred and play well in some situations. We added Mike Reilly from a puck-moving standpoint, he acquitted himself well. But we realize that you need to have depth in the organization on the back end. And certainly, losing Carlo and Miller for the last series, it definitely presented some challenges. We had some players that had to go on the penalty kill in situations in primary minutes that we had spread that around pretty cleanly with Brandon and Kevan. The challenges exist, you have to have depth. Overall, would you like to improve and have difference-makers in every position, the back end included? Absolutely. Do a better job there as an organization, we’ll make sure we’re never deficient in those areas and certainly something we aspire to do. Overall, you have to account the injuries, but if teams lose two of their top six when you’re going through a playoff run, it’s going to have a residual effect. It’s not an excuse because you have to have depth. I think, at certain points, the younger guys acquitted themselves well, and at other times, they may have stumbled. They had some stumbles, they had some roadblocks, and that’s to be expected.

On if he’s prepared to move ahead with Karson Kuhlman, Jack Studnicka, or other young forwards... I don’t think we’ve ever handed over a roster spot to any of our younger players. What we’ve tried to do is create some internal competition and allow those players to go in, at some point if they’re ready, and really, push other players out. We’ve made some tough decisions over the course of the years when players to be able to do that. Brandon Carlo and Charlie McAvoy are great examples when we did feel comfortable giving them an opportunity. Lauzon in that sense, Zboril this year, Jake Debrusk in previous years, Anders Bjork in previous years. We’ve allowed for the opportunity to present itself, but the player has to be ready to go. And most players an opportunity, but they have to prove it. There’s no — they’re not incumbents that go in and say, ‘Okay, there’s our second line left winger, third line winger, third line center.’ That’s not how we draw it up. We realize you have to have depth, and every one of those players achieved, as I just mentioned – they can provide depth and competition within our group. But we would like to have an even stronger group to create even more internal competition. I think Taylor and David would add to that and would need to add to that. If it’s not those two, than it’ll probably be other two players that we will target and go after and hopefully add to the competitiveness of this group.

On the need for a defenseman to pair with Brandon Carlo... It depends where guys get slotted in, whether that’s Mike Reilly coming back or where Grizz slots in, or Lauzon. In a perfect world, every coach is going to ask for the best players they can possibly have. Bruce would be no different in that regard. It’d be like Christmas every day, if we could find a new present under the tree, we’d be happy to unwrap it. If we can draft it and develop it like we did with McAvoy and Carlo and hopefully to continue to do it with Lauzon and Zboril and Vaakanainen and guys that are able to continue to progress, that’s a perfect scenario. If not, you have to go out and acquire it or supplement it through free agency, and that’s my job. Is to continue to try to do better in every area. And again, we fall back on the decision makers that have to find better players and obviously we have to execute better, to the level we’re capable of. I think the Islanders did a little better job in some of those areas.

On if there are specific areas for improvement this offseason... I think we have to address some of the players that are unrestricted. We have some restricted players that we have to as well. We have expansion that you’ll likely lose a player. Some of that is a little hard to predict, as I sit today. We have some areas of depth that we’d like to continue to address. It showed up through the Islanders series, where we get dinged up and ran into some injuries. I think the depth of the Islanders roster and their scoring ability showed up and we just didn’t get it done to the level that we needed to. Otherwise, we’d still be playing. So, we have to acknowledge the shortcomings, both at a player level and at a management level in terms of the roster composition, as you pointed out. We have to target some areas and expect some improvement in some players that they would admit, and did admit, that they fell short in. How the pieces fall – we’ve been a very competitive team and we put ourselves in a position to compete at the Stanley Cup level. And we’ve just fallen short. Obviously, we got to the ultimate level a few years ago. Had really strong regular season, beat a very good team in Carolina a few years ago. Beat a very good team in Washington this year. We’ve just fallen short and haven’t performed at the same level in the next round. That’s what we want to do and do better.

On if he’ll sign any unrestricted guys before the draft... The preference would be not, given the fact that we have expansion. It creates other problems for us. I think, again, we’ll have discussions and hopefully be able to find common ground. You run the risk, you get into that interview period and period beyond expansion that may get closer to the deadline, and they find ground somewhere else that they feel is a better fit. There’s a risk there. But again, the fact of expansion and exposing other player associated with that – you want to keep the strongest roster you possibly can on the depth side of things, and we’ll try to do that like everybody else.

On if he’s allowed to come to terms of an agreement before signing ... You can only talk in generalities with your players. You could never come to a full-fledged agreement and not file the contract.

On how this season influenced his defensive philosophy… I think you’re right. In fact, you’d like to have a balance. You don’t predict – pick your opponents. Some teams are built with speed in transition. We’re a little heavier in that regard. I think you have to really have the ability to play any different way. Going into the Washington series, talking about the physicality of that team and how we were going to hold up with Griz and Reilly and players of that nature. We felt we had players with that stiffness side of things you describe in Carlo and Miller, McAvoy the way he plays and Lauzon. Again, the balance. Now, when injuries come, what’s your depth look like? Are we going to be able to plug those holes? That’s where it gets a little bit – there is some variance associated with that. I think you have to be built to play any different way. You look at Vegas in playing against a real strong, heavy skating team. Fast team in Colorado and being able to offset that. Obviously, they played very well, in account of that. Their D was involved last night and being a part of their transition game. But they’re big and strong and their mobile. In a perfect world, you have a combination of both. And we found that as we were going through this season, that our puck play and our transition game – that’s when Mike came in and supplemented that a little bit to help us. And again, when injuries come, it’s sort of like ‘Ok, you’re going to test the depth of your organization’. And maybe that’s where we fell short to some degree. But overall, we just didn’t execute. Particularly in a couple games that the margins are small enough that it shows up and you go home rather than move on.

On if most of his decisions for the expansion draft will be about the forwards... We have tough decision to make all the way across the board, as does every team. I think we all experienced that going through the Vegas expansion. So, you’re going to lose a good player. We’ve come to a decision like we did last time. I think you limit the – maybe the mistakes of adding to that, based on the fact that they put themselves in a position. The rules are there for their benefit and you just have to try and hope that they pick one guy that you might have depth to replace. Or you have to go to market to replace. But I think we’re going to stick with exposing the one player and move on from that.

On his evaluation of the transition of the leadership core... It’s still to be determined in some regard. You’re seeing players that are playing bigger roles, both on and off the ice. And a little bit of that is the natural progression of the leadership and responsibilities. I really don’t believe that you’re born into that. I think you have to acquire that, and I think that you have to be the type of personality that can accept that type of responsibility. Patrice is the best example. And obviously I watched Raymond. Players that had language barriers when they first started out but didn’t change their personality on the ice and their work ethic and their ability to compete and ingratiate themselves with their teammates. I think that’s most important in leadership, that you’re looked upon as a person that somebody besides you wants to go to battle with and can also talk with off the ice. I think we’ve got several young players that are moving in that direction and being more comfortable and integrated into that. And again, I think that’s where our leadership group welcomes the opportunity for the newest player. Charlie in that case or Brandon in that case, a union representative. I think we’re moving and allowing that to organically come to the surface without forcing anybody into those roles. And we’re going to have to continue to do that. As the players age and move on, you have to have the next players, the next wave. You’re right. It’s simple to do and discuss and talk about and integrate those players into it so that they feel more comfortable as responsibility comes their way.

On if he wants to bring a veteran player in to complement that... I think, again Taylor coming in and earning the respect of his teammates. Trying to play the right way and integrate himself. Lazar coming in, been part of other organizations. Come in to be part of our fourth line and the fabric there. Yeah, I think we do need to bring in those types of players. You have to be careful and walk the line when you go into free agency, because the pieces have to fit. Trying to do our due diligence in how players – Craig Smith probably a great indication of that this year, knowing the type of player he is and how he would fit into our group. It went well. And you have to continue to try and do it properly and respect the guys that are here. But also augment and supplement and tap into – because again, players in other organizations have had success and the more that we can bring that into ours, the more that we’re going to move forward as a group.

On the faith in the older group and younger group coming together to compete... I think we have to continue to add to the group. I don’t think you can expect to bring the band back together if it wasn’t able to complete and accomplish the ultimate goal in the last couple years. And obviously they’ve been extremely close on several occasions and having won it several years ago. They put themselves back into a position to compete for it and ultimately that’s really what they ask. They ask you as an organization to surround them with quality people like themselves, that can elevate their game and grow. To me, that’s what it’s all about. Can they continue to do it? The tread life of the tires, you don’t get to swap that out. So, it’s going to drop off. The performance level of several of the guys we’ve discussed has been pretty damn proficient over the years and we’ve been fortunate in that regard. Injuries, you just never know when they’re going to come. You don’t know you’re going to lose two righties going through a series. You just don’t know. They play hard. But they want to win and ultimately, they want to be surrounded by good players, good teammates, and that’s what we’re going to try and continue to do. We’ll go through the draft, go through acquisition. Sometimes we’ve traded away younger players that we felt would be parts of it. But we’ve added to the group. Charlie Coyle is an example of that. He came in and has done a good job. He’s got to have an offseason maintenance procedure to get back to the full health and can help drive that third line spot – but that’s just one example. Mick, I appreciate you acknowledging that we’ve done a good job. But we need to do a better job if we expect to win at the highest level and that’s what we try and do as an organization. And those top end players, albeit they’ve moved on a little bit the last couple years from an age standpoint – are still awfully competitive and still awfully productive players. Pastrnak is a great example. McAvoy is a great example. These guys that are also at the elite level now can help drive and supplement and complement the group. As a management staff, we have to continue to find the right pieces to surround all those guys if they continue playing. Krejci is a good example of somebody that – again, you’d like to continue to play, he’s got some family decisions that he wants to incorporate into that. And then you move forward. You react from there.

BOSTON BRUINS PRESIDENT CAM NEELY … On the 2015 draft… I’ve looked back at that a lot, obviously. I think the timing of when we hired Don and then the draft was taking place – would have been good I think to have a little bit more time between the hiring and the draft. Not to say that Don wasn’t involved in the amateur meetings, but he wasn’t involved at the time, most of the time thinking that he was making the picks. I think Don did everything he needed to do leading up to that draft to get three first round picks. I thought the moves that he made were really good and poised to set us up for the future. The guys put the list together. I think maybe during that time, we should have taken some time out – as everybody knows, we tried to move up in the draft. It didn’t work. We probably should have taken the time out and really just digested that list a little bit more. Then there was a pick that one of our scouts really thought that the player wouldn’t be available in the second round. Obviously, hindsight is everything we’d all love to have. moving forward and thinking about making different decisions or better decisions, I guess. You can always do that in every draft though, no matter where you pick and how many picks you have.

On Dougie Hamilton… Well, we certainly liked his size, his skating, his offensive ability. Especially on the offensive blue line. He’s matured into a better two-way player. It’s not just about the numbers, although he puts up really good numbers. You’re in this game for a long time, you certainly like to believe players can learn and adapt a little bit more on the defensive side of the puck. Which I think he has.

On the bottom six against the Islanders… That’s a really good question. I felt like when we made those deals at the deadline, we had a pretty complete team. Obviously, as everybody knows, you get into playoffs, you pray for health. You pray for good goaltending. You pray for timely scoring. We didn’t get the depth scoring that we thought we might get, and we expected to get. That was a little frustrating for us for sure. Our penalty kill took a huge hit when we lost both Carlo and Miller. And they lit us up that one game, which you look at how well our penalty kill in the Washington series compared to the Islander series, you think it might be reversed. But you have to give the Islanders credit for making the plays that they did to score on their power play. We could have used, obviously looking back, could have used a little bit more depth scoring. We thought we had the lines to do that. Unfortunately, it didn’t unfold that way.

On what the organization needs to do to get back on top… We’ve had a pretty good stretch here where we’ve gotten to the finals a couple other times. Just haven’t been able to close the door. We’ve got to take a hard look at our roster this summer. It ticks off one year older and that’s something we’re looking at. What do we need to do for this next wave here? It’s something we have to work towards this offseason.

On the offseason needs… You said, the elusive left D we’ve been looking for that can chew up a lot of minutes. Maybe play on the second pairing with Carlo. That’d be more of a shutdown or some puck movement. Some offensive blue line acumen. As we saw, you can never have enough D and we never seem to have enough. For some reason or another, we get banged up. I think our D this year had maybe eight concussions, which is something I don’t know how to combat. But that position is something that we’ve been looking for, for a while. And hopefully we can do something to grab someone that’s going to help maybe play 20 minutes a game for us.

On what he remembers from the day they won the cup in 2011… Just how nervous I was. Game seven, in the away building, you never know how it’s going to play out. But for me, I was just so excited, not only for the group and the coaching staff and everybody that put the work in during that season, but the fan base in particular. Just how long they’d been waiting for us to win another Stanley Cup. We had some runs over the years but never was able to lift the cup. For me, it was what it meant to the city of Boston and New England and our Bruins fans, to be honest with you. Just how excited and elated everyone was and it was kind of a long time coming.

On the mood of ownership… Well, fortunately, they’ve certainly wanted us to do better than we’ve done. And this year, I think the expectations were certainly a team that could get out of the second round at the very least. So, some disappointment there, there’s no question. They’re giving us all the resources that we need to put championship teams together. They also do recognize that everybody else for the most part is doing the same thing and it’s a challenge. Playoff hockey is more competitive than it used to be. There’s a lot more competitive balance than there used to be. They were excited about our team. They were excited about what we did at the deadline and obviously disappointed not getting out of the second round.

On the feeling after being eliminated compared to last season… Good question. It really is going to depend upon what happened with some of the UFA’s that we’re going to look to try and sign. We have some holes if we can’t get those guys signed and that will certainly dictate what direction we may have to go in. I can tell you this, I know that March and Bergy understandably would like us to take another run. If we get the pieces signed that we’d like to, I think it’s worth taking one more shot at it here. Dependent on what we can do on the back end as well. Tuukka is up in the air with his surgery, so we’ll see where that goes. But we’re pretty confident in our goaltender with Jeremy Swayman and also Vladar. Haven’t seen enough of Vladar but Swayman gave us a little bit of a taste of what type of goalie he can be in the National Hockey League. So, we feel pretty comfortable starting the season with him.

On Charlie McAvoy in comparison to Ray Bourque… Certainly, the amount of minutes Charlie can play is — Ray was a horse out there. I remember watching him one time, he had a long shift and came to the bench, took two deep breaths and was ready to go. McAvoy is similar in that regard, where he can play a lot of minutes at a high level. That’s a similarity I see right now. Charlie’s developing a little bit more on the offensive blue line; Ray had that natural ability I think right from the get-go, that Charlie’s certainly come a long way.

On the current roster being sufficient enough for next season… I don’t think we can look at the roster now when you lose in the second round and say you can compete for a Stanley Cup. I mean, players that are on that roster that are coming back certainly need to improve. Need to get more out of the third and fourth line. Need of the second line, we didn’t get enough of in that last series. I think we have to look at improving our roster to improve our chances to win a Cup.