BOSTON BRUINS QUOTES Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney Monday, November 23, 2020
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BOSTON BRUINS QUOTES Bruins General Manager Don Sweeney Monday, November 23, 2020 BOSTON BRUINS GENERAL MANAGER DON SWEENEY Obviously, I want to thank everyone for joining us tonight as we announce Jake’s two year contract. Very happy to have that resolved. Excited for Jake and what this represents for him. And very appreciative of all the work the Rick Vallette did along with Evan [Gold] and the support of ownership. I appreciate you guys all jumping on board to discuss the contract. On getting this done before camp… Again, the timing is – every negotiation really has its own timeline. We went through an extended period with both Brandon and Charlie last year. The landscape is just, there are a lot of unknowns associated with where we’re going in the immediate future and hopefully things, with all the positive news associated with vaccines and a hopeful climate that could potentially exist, that we get back on track. But we have some ground to cover and I think that was part of the discussions this time around with Jake and Rick and realizing that we explored a longer-term deal. And it’s probably on me that it didn’t come to fruition, we focused on a shorter term given the landscape and the uncertainty. On the leaguewide challenges… I’m not going to speak on a global perspective of the league’s dynamic. We all understand what the challenge is in regards to the cap, and where we were this time last year, we’ll call it, versus where we are now. and then forecasting going forward. I think we all have to realize that things just don’t work in a linear fashion and you have to prepare accordingly. And some teams will have to make some judgement decisions, internal decisions and the lineups and rosters will change accordingly. That’s really where the competitive balance in the league starts to shift at times, when teams are in situations where they’re somewhat squeezed or forecasting going forward. We have several players that fall in line with that moving forward, and we have to prepare accordingly. And Jake was part of that process, but we’re very appreciative of being able to have a really good young player who has been a very productive player for us and really has a new platform going forward for him to take things as far as he wants. On how Jake can reach his potential… I think it’s a combination to be perfectly honest with you. I think Jake has a chance to continue to expand his game. He has an innate ability to score goals. Some guys take three chances, Jake might only take one, and he can finish. I think that’s been proven over the course of his career so far. For the speed Jake brings to the table, there’s no reason why Jake can’t kill penalties. There’s no reason that Jake can be an even better net front presence this year, where he scored a bunch of goals this year but also missed opportunities. That’s that inside presence, that ability to get inside the dots with consistency. Being a little more of a threat on a forecheck as an F1. With his speed, his abilities that he has and the talents, I do believe as you referenced, continue to commit himself on the physical side of things. To continue to improve as an overall adult and player in this league. He’s had a heck of a lot of experience now, he’s had a heck of a lot of success, and I think there is another level or two for Jake to get to and we want to help him realize that, and be part of the core of our group for years to come. He’s been an impactful player in both the regular season and playoffs, but at times as I referenced, the consistency – and all young players go through that, all players in general go through it. I do believe Jake has a chance to have more of a breakout impact, in a two-way fashion of the game as opposed to just that reliance of scoring the big goals. He’s capable of scoring the big goal. He’s capable of impacting a game in a lot of different ways. On motivating players thought player comparisons… I certainly hope so. I know our coaches work with all our players, particularly our younger players. Guys are getting their feet wet, they’re finding their way. He’s had a lot of time with a high-level player like David Krejci. Developed some chemistry. Bounced back and forth with a little bit with Charlie Coyle. He’s gone to the off-wing at times. Just to see what those next levels of Jake can be, as opposed to just as you referenced, having an innate ability to jump on a loose puck and score a big goal. You saw him take over games a couple years ago, in particular in Toronto. He scored an enormous goal for us coming down the off-wing. In a game in Carolina in the playoffs this year, he has those abilities, and few players do. But then again, can you impact it over the course of 60 minutes where you leave the rink some nights where, I might not have finished, but I really, really impacted the game and I made a few more players. It was a little more tilted towards the goal scoring side of things than he is to the assist side of things. With his speed and his ability to drive play in al three zones, I think Jake should recognize that he has at least one more, if not two more levels to get to. On the term… Again, as I referenced, we had initial talks as we did with Brandon and Charlie and young players we think are part of our future, our core, that we’ll look to try and do longer term and sometimes it just doesn’t work. And in this case, I think a little of the unknown landscape had me pivot back to shorter term to allow us flexibility now and then moving forward, and obviously allowing Jake for the next platform. His ability to take it to another level. With a little more certainty as to where things may head financially with the league. I think at this point in time, two years felt like the right number, and we’re fortunate that Rick and Jake saw the common ground and were happy to get it done. He’s really being recognized at the top of that peer group of his comparable and we’re happy to put him there. On the pandemic affecting the contract… I just think, there’s not any one specific thing. The pandemic sort of brought to light for me and our group that this was the direction we felt was more prudent at this point in time and it moved there. On how receptive agents are to adapting to the financial climate… It doesn’t take much. You guys can speculate and print a number regardless of what an agent may say or what a general manager may say. Sometimes it becomes a gravitational pull in that direction. You have to deal with what the real comparable are. Go through the individuals that you’re talking about, the players importance to your team and I think this references Jake’s importance to our team and where he is amongst his peer group. We were happy to put him at the top of that grouping. If he reaches the next level - and we have a little more certainty on the financial outlook of things – everybody predicted two years ago, where the cap may or may not be. But nobody predicted, nobody could have predicted necessarily, where we stand today. You have to react according to that. The discussions have been obviously a little more pragmatic in terms of what players as individuals are dealing with, what teams are dealing with. And being cognizant of the financial landscape. Like I said, we’re happy where we’re at. We’ve put him at the top of his peer group and I think Jake has a chance to go forward and really, depending on obviously where the league goes, to take it to a level beyond this. Well beyond this. On if consistency is part… More in a general sense. I don’t think we were being very specific to going through a slump here or there. For us, it’s just the outlook of what Jake is capable of doing and he’s shown it. He’s been consistently productive. Not to be contradicting myself in that regard, I just think there are stretches, where if Jake finds a level that he’s capable of, affecting the game in a two-way component, he might not walk out of the game and think, well Jake didn’t score tonight, he’s in a slump. I don’t think it’s all about that. The puck doesn’t go in at times, and all go scorers through that. I think Jake has an opportunity to impact a game in a lot, a lot of different ways. We want all to help him, the coaches included, Jake himself wants to recognize it and be that impactful player over the course of an entire 60 minutes as well as on the scoresheet.