The Bruins’ slide is execution of a perfect plan

The 2024-25 season has not been a contending one for the Boston Bruins, but their demise might be going perfectly to plan under interim head coach Joe Sacco. 

After letting former head coach Jim Montgomery go in November, the Bruins are 30-36-9 and continuing to slide down the standings as they approach their final seven games. It took bullish trades from general manager Don Sweeney, but it’s a strategy that could lead to a quick top prospect for the organization. 

On Wednesday’s episode of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli and Colby Cohen discussed the Bruins’ season and where they might go with Sacco and their outlook in the near future.

Seravalli: The Boston Bruins are dead last in the Eastern Conference. You could say that’s good news for the Buffalo Sabres, but Colby, I will throw this at you – the Bruins have done the trade deadline right. Rip the Band-Aid off, and trade away five pieces from your team, including Brad Marchand. 

They’re 2-8-1 since March 7, which was NHL Trade Deadline day, which has put them in line, depending on how the lottery ping-pong balls shake out, for a top-five pick…this is how you do it. If you’re not going to make the playoffs, don’t linger.

Cohen: 100%, and they’re not going to tear down fully. They’re not going to trade Charlie McAvoy and David Pasternak this summer; that’s just not going to happen, and you’ve got Jeremy Swayman, so now they have their core pieces. You’re right. Why not get a top-five pick? They do not have a deep prospect pool. Whoever they draft this year will automatically be their top prospect.

I give Don Sweeney credit for doing something incredibly unpopular and trading Brad Marchand. I think he will play and play enough games [for the Florida Panthers], so this ends up a first-round pick for [the Bruins]. 

At the end of the day, if there’s one person I’m disappointed for, it’s Joe Sacco. He’s a guy that I played for in the NHL, he’s a guy that I respect and a guy that I like a lot as a human being off the ice. I would have liked to have potentially seen him have an NHL roster, not a half NHL, or maybe quarter NHL roster, just to see if: ‘Hey, listen, here’s your opportunity to be a head coach again, right?’

You can catch the segment and full episode below…