‘We’re going to be aggressive’: Bruins’ Sweeney prepares for busy offseason

The Bruins were recently eliminated by the Florida Panthers in the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, falling to their Atlantic Division rivals in six games. Boston came into the 2023-24 campaign expecting to be competitive but was surprisingly challenging for the top spot in the Eastern Conference once again.

Team president Cam Neely pointed out that lack of speed was one of the reasons the Bruins failed to make it to the conference finals.

“We’re not as fast as we’d like to be,” Neely said.

“Our team played hard,” Sweeney said. “To Cam’s point, whether or not we could play faster, or we can find players that will create more anxiety on the forecheck…teams that are still playing are damn good. They earned the right to be there and we didn’t.”

During the press conference, Sweeny also said they expect to see Matthew Poitras back and healthy for next season. Poitras had an exceptional start to his NHL career, scoring 20 points in 33 games before shoulder surgery in February ended his season prematurely.

Another talking point on Wednesday was the team signing goaltender Jeremy Swayman to a contract extension. While the team started the playoffs by rotating he and reigning Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark, Swayman got hot, and carried Boston in the second round for the first time in three years.

Sweeney says a new deal for Swayman is on the team’s agenda.

“It’s a priority,” Sweeney said. “And it will continue to be a priority.”

Sweeney also admitted that he would like to keep Ullmark and Swayman in Boston, as the duo has become the best goaltending tandem in the NHL.

“In a perfect world, we’d love to keep the tandem because it’s damn good.”