One year after a wild trade deadline that set the retool in motion for the Boston Bruins, general manager Don Sweeney had a quiet trade deadline on Friday. In fact, compared to last year, it was a quieter deadline this year than in years past around the league.
In what was a not-so-surprising quiet deadline for Sweeney, he made two moves, which should be considered minor. Maybe the Black and Gold find lightning in a bottle with Lukas Reichel from the Vancouver Canucks. Who knows.
Sweeney met with the media on Monday and basically had a warning that a quiet deadline might be coming. Apparently, he heard some rumblings, whether it was on social media or whatever. When he walked into his post-deadline press conference, he opened with what appeared to be a subtle jab at the media.
Bruins GM Don Sweeney takes subtle shot at the media
Sweeney began his press conference with an opening statement, and it was an interesting one, to say the least.
"I've been accused of misleading the press, in terms of what I said the other day, that it will be a cautious approach, and certainly different from last year and it was. It doesn't mean we didn't explore an awful lot of things to be perfectly honest and truthful, because we would like to continue to add to our group. But, that being said, I certainly want to welcome Alexis [Gendron], Massimo [Rizzo], and Lucas [Reichel],'' said Sweeney.
I'm not sure how many people, inside or outside of the media, thought that there were going to be fireworks on Friday. This is not a team built to win this year. This is not a team that is a serious Cup contender. So I'm not sure what that was about. Maybe, just maybe, someone is listening to the outside noise more than he should.
Take the comments however you want to, but truth be told, this wasn't a great look for Sweeney. Is the pressure on him? Unlikely. There is very little chance that Cam Neely moves on from his friend. But that comment makes you wonder what might be going on behind the scenes at Warrior Ice Arena.