The Boston Bruins have given general manager Don Sweeney a two-year contract extension, showing their trust in him to rebuild the team after missing the playoffs this season — the first time that has happened since 2016.
This decision comes a month after team president Cam Neely said he was still deciding whether to keep Sweeney, who has led the Bruins through ten years of strong regular seasons but mostly disappointing playoff results. Sweeney fired coach Jim Montgomery in November, even though Montgomery led the team to NHL records of 65 wins and 135 points in 2022-23. When interim coach Joe Sacco couldn’t turn things around, Sweeney traded away several players at the deadline.
“Don has navigated a disappointing period for our club with conviction, purpose, and a clear vision toward the future of the Boston Bruins,” Neely said. “He made difficult decisions around the trade deadline with the confidence they will pay dividends as we craft a path back to contention.”
In Sweeney’s 10 seasons as general manager, the Bruins have a regular-season record of 458 wins, 233 losses, and 91 overtime losses. They’ve reached the playoffs eight times. Their 1,007 points and .644 points percentage are tied for the league’s best during that time.
But the Bruins have advanced past the second playoff round just once during Sweeney’s time, making it to the Stanley Cup Final in 2019 with Bruce Cassidy as coach. Cassidy was fired three years later and led the Vegas Golden Knights to a championship in his first year there.
Boston Bruins Win Over Capitals (NHL)Montgomery took over in Boston and won 112 games in two seasons, but won only one playoff series. He was let go 20 games into this season. With the team out of playoff contention, Sweeney traded captain Brad Marchand — the last player from the 2011 title team — marking the close of the team’s most successful stretch since Bobby Orr played at the old Boston Garden.
Neely said Sweeney is working on hiring a new coach and getting ready for the upcoming draft.
“I am confident in the plan he has followed these past few months — and excited for what’s to come for our team,” said Neely, who once played for the Bruins, about Sweeney, a former defenseman for the team. “The expectations in Boston have always been clear. It’s about winning championships.”
Sweeney played 16 NHL seasons, all but one with the Bruins. He became the team’s general manager in 2015 and won the NHL’s General Manager of the Year Award in 2019 after the Bruins reached the Stanley Cup Final. This winter, he was general manager for Team Canada in its 4 Nations Face-Off win, and he will be the assistant GM for Canada at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics.
“It’s an honor to be part of a franchise with such a storied history and passionate fanbase,” Sweeney said. “I fully understand and embrace the responsibility that comes with this role. Our fans have high expectations for this team, and so do I. The collective goal is to build a team that makes Bruins fans proud and ultimately brings another Stanley Cup back to Boston.”
