Despite calling his defense a “work in progress” -- which is a nice way of saying it’s not all that great -- Bruins GM Don Sweeney doesn’t intend to do anything rash as the Feb. 29 trade deadline approaches.
“I think you have to be of a mindset to grow it,” Sweeney told the Boston Herald. “That may seem counterintuitive to a player we traded in that light (Dougie Hamilton), though circumstances may have dictated otherwise.
“But I firmly believe we have players in the pipeline and we’re going to look to continue to improve that, be it through trade, be it through free agency, or whatever way.”
The Bruins did draft a defenseman with one of their three first-round picks in June; they got Jakub Zboril 13th overall. They also selected d-men Brandon Carlo and Jeremy Lauzon 37th and 52nd overall, respectively.
So, Sweeney’s not wrong. They do have some players in the pipeline.
Still, it’ll be a while before those guys are ready to make an impact, if they ever do make an impact. With that in mind, we wonder if the B’s might pursue a proven NHLer like Dustin Byfuglien. Perhaps not at the trade deadline, but in free agency if he’s still available July 1.
Byfuglien in a Bruins jersey.
Yeah, we could picture that.
Related: Jack Edwards says there’s ‘no alpha dog on the way’ for Bruins blue line