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BOSTON BRUINS QUOTES NHL Free Agency October 10, 2020 BOSTON BRUINS GENERAL MANAGER DON SWEENEY On the best aspect of Craig Smith… Well, I think five-on-five scoring. Five of the last seven years, he’s topped 20 goals. Everybody advertised him as an absolute true professional. He’s a true right winger, volume shooter, probably plays best on the second- or third-line role. Can certainly play the bumper on the power play. We described the fact that Bergy is in that spot so he’s probably not likely taking it, but more than happy to move around and be a shooter on the second one if necessary or he can slide down low in the drop off. We’ve felt all along that the depth in scoring has to be there. It showed up this year in the playoffs. It was a real factor for us in the previous year. Craig touched an awful lot of the boxes that we were looking to plug that hole with. On if they’re a better team now… We’re certainly exploring all the avenues of both free agency and through trade. I’m not going to tell you that I have something on the burner here. I do believe we addressed an area that we had a need in. We’ve allowed for internal completion to continue to bubble up and we have several young players in that mindset and that’s healthy for our group overall. And clearly, our – we had long discussions internally about, where is our powerplay going to be at the end of the day. Krejci was on it in the playoffs, did a nice job, March went down low. Obviously, we have a vacancy up top that we have to, at the current state, fill from within. That might be an audition thing. We certainly feel comfortable with Griz or Charlie, and if other players, Jakub Zboril, establish themselves, somebody is going to get an opportunity there. Or we’re going to have to continue to explore from outside if the opportunity presents itself. On Smith’s analytical profile… There is certainly a layer and a variable that we look at. We have different lenses. Obviously, we have pro scouts that do an awful lot of work and travel to attend these games and follow up with video, follow up with having knowledge of the players and trying to do our best job as possible to know how that player is going to fit in our lineup. Having coaching meetings as to where they’re going to use that player. And obviously, talking to the player himself. Spending a lot of time yesterday with Craig and his representatives and allowing him asking any questions that he feels most comfortable to make the best decision. It’s a two-way street in that regard. You’re trying to recruit a player, obviously trying to identify him first and foremost that he can come in and help your team. And the analytic piece has become a tool for all of us to use and certainly we try to add it to all of our decision making. On being in the market for Pietrangelo and Hall… We’re comfortable having conversations with the remaining free agents that we feel would help our club. I have not, full disclosure in this case, I have not had a discussion with Pietrangelo’s camp. We feel that our right side might not be the absolute best fit for our club. Very respectful for the player, an elite player in the National Hockey League. That’s not the discussion we’ve had. In regards to other players, we’re certainly engaging the interest on both sides of it and seeing what we can potentially fit in. On if Pietrangelo is setting the D market… I don’t think any one player is going to set a market. He has his own as a player. You’re seeing several other players throughout the league during the course of yesterday and what will trickle in over the last week and the coming weeks if it takes that long. There is never any one comparable that anybody points to. It’s an entire broad-based market and every player finds their slotting with the particular teams. On if a team would have to make moves to accommodate a top player… Safe to say, you better have the cap space or have the ability to create it. On the left side of the defense… We’re continuing to explore external options. We feel that we have some young players, not unlike a few years ago where Carlo came on to the scene. Did we absolutely know that Brandon was going to be able to go in and play the amount of minutes right out of the gate? Nope. But we felt comfortable that we were going to give him that opportunity, and felt we could insulate it. Charlie and Brandon now have been in this league and have had a tremendous amount of success. Can they carry a younger player? Is Griz ready for an elevated role? Some of that is to be determined. Vaakanainen, Zboril, John Moore and the collection of the group is what it is at this stage, while I continue to explore external options and it might be by committee in some of those situations. And it think some of the younger players are excited. And Zdeno is part of that equation. We’ll continue to have the conversations with his group and allow him the latitude to make those decisions accordingly. On the Torey Krug situation… I’ll address Torey. Obviously, I’m not talking about players that are on other teams. In this sense, I’ll leave it in the context of player and how we do communicate effectively. I think that we take a lot of pride in maintaining that communication. Not agreeing, from a contractual standpoint, is never disrespecting a player. You just don’t find the common ground. The bottom line is, we fell short on term. But from a competitive standpoint and what offers were made, we were very comfortable in the position we were in and what we tried to accomplish. And in full respect to Torey, as I’ve said previously, or any player heading to the market and testing the market and finding the value they seem comfortable, that’s their entitlement. They’ve reached that point and they’re able to do that. And the club has to, during that period of time, has to have plans accordingly. Whether or not it’s with that current player moving forward or a different player. On the power play without Krug… You always want somebody ready-made. Replacing the component of that player is within a couple ways. As I said, Krejci moved on to that unit, so you know you have four players that are returning and you have to institute a new player. Whether that again, from internal group that we currently or while I continue to look outside for a player that might have that identity and acumen as a player. That remains to be seen. I don’t have that on our roster right now, we have some flexibility to continue to explore it. But I can’t tell you I’m going to guarantee I’m going to do that. On the same token, we feel comfortable that somebody is going to get a hell of an opportunity to go in and have the yeomen minutes and playing with four elite players in the National Hockey League that have had a lot of success on the power play. On spending in the pandemic… The decision from a hockey ops standpoint, obviously, Cam is in constant communication. Charlie, we are all in constant communication as to how we are going to operate. There is so much unknown for what is ahead of us in the short term here. And also, the long term. We understand there is going to be a flat cap scenario. It’s not just a one and done here, it’s going to take a while for us to build this thing back up. From a hockey ops standpoint, Mr. Jacobs is consistent that we’ve been put in place to make really effective decisions and put the best team we can possibly put on the ice. And he’s consistent with that. I can also guarantee he’ll be consistent in the fact that if we don’t put the quality product on the ice, he’ll find people that will. And that’s a part of the and I respect the hell out of that, to tell you the honest truth. But as far as the greater economic standpoint, I think only Cam, Charlie, Mr. Jacobs should really answer the question in terms of the global part of Delaware North and the Boston Bruins. On having some wiggle room with the cap… We’ve run it lean in some years and obviously sometimes you have players on performance bonuses you have to account for. In other years, we’ve have had a little more flexibility and space, which allows you to at the deadline, as we have, add players. I think everyone would like to have flexibility. I think in this environment, running it lean, you’re going to have a compressed schedule when we get back up and running. You’re going to have injuries. It’s hard to account for. We went injury deep right out of the gate and we ran into some overages as a result of it.

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