Don Sweeney Gives Details on Bruins' Failed Pursuit of Tyler Bertuzzi

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Dylan Robillard
July 8, 2023 (10:36 PM)

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The Boston Bruins made aggressive moves in order to go all in for the Stanley Cup last season, but those new additions were not retained this offseason.

Dmitry Orlov signed with the Carolina Hurricanes, Garnet Hathaway signed with the Philadelphia Flyers and Tyler Bertuzzi signed with the Maple Leafs � Tyler Bertuzzi was originally thought to be who the Bruins would try and keep, yet it fell apart and he went elsewhere.

This left Bruins fans unhappy and wanting an answer as to why the Bruins couldn't give him the same deal, since they were already moving bodies and cap.

General Manager Don Sweeney detailed why the Bruins were not in the market for that kind of deal with Bertuzzi stating,

«I'll speak more generally than just about another player on another team at this point in time. There were players looking for longer-term deals, and my discussions were focused on that,»

Sweeney told reporters Friday, per Bruins video.

«Some teams were in a good position to absorb shorter-term deals at the right numbers. We had to go and fill our gap. We made a move to open up the space we needed. It would have required us to be even more proactive and do deals we explored, but we didn't feel the value was there to open up even more space or be overly aggressive and have to make a move as a result of that.»

While Bertuzzi stays on a Stanley Cup contender, a one-year deal likely wasn't the 28-year-old's goal, and as Sweeney said, the Bruins' goal was to retain the forward for the long term. But this wasn't possible nor was it for any other team with the cap being what it is, so Bertuzzi settled on a one-year deal.

Boston made multiple moves to increase its depth for this season, and Sweeney noted there would have more flexibility for his team next season. Meaning the possibility of bringing Tyler Bertuzzi back in.

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