Don Sweeney is anticipating a quiet stretch for the Bruins leading up to the NHL trade deadline, but Boston’s front office will be very busy once the season ends.
The B’s have a number of notable players who currently are on expiring contracts, most notably captain Brad Marchand. Sweeney was asked about those players — as well as the likelihood of in-season extensions — when he met with the media Sunday afternoon.
“I think I have a pretty clear idea as to where most of those players sit,” Sweeney told reporters, as transcribed by Boston.com. “We have a timeline for some that’s different from others, as it relates to UFAs and RFAs and we’ll address those as I just mentioned.
“We’ll address the Brad one. So everybody’s a little bit in the same boat at this point in time, that it’s unlikely that we’ll move forward with things other than maybe Brad’s. But you never know, because obviously it takes one phone call and things change around.”
Sweeney acknowledged it was his “ultimate goal” to keep Marchand with the Bruins for the duration of the captain’s NHL career. Boston’s general manager also anticipates negotiations with Marchand will ramp up now that the 4-Nations Face-Off tournament is over.
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Outside of Marchand, however, the futures of the Bruins’ other impending free agents remain uncertain.