Bruins GM Don Sweeney is ready to trade: ‘Eager to be participating’

BOSTON — The Florida Panthers acquired Brady Tkachuk. The Toronto Maple Leafs traded for Darren Raddysh and are reportedly pursuing Vincent Trocheck. The Ottawa Senators and Buffalo Sabres are eager to use the futures capital they imported for Tkachuk and Bowen Byram. 

Don Sweeney is feeling a little left out after watching his Atlantic Division competitors.

“I don’t think the transactions are going to stop between now and the timeframe in July. We’re eager to be participating,” the Boston Bruins general manager said on Wednesday at Warrior Ice Arena. “Haven’t yet.”

In his conversations with other GMs, Sweeney is asking about right-shot defensemen and top-six skill. They are commodities he could target come July 1 as well. But Sweeney is not interested in standing pat until the opening of free agency.

“You have to be in the trade market at this time of the year,” Sweeney said. “I just don’t think you can be singularly focused on UFA, internal growth and the expectation that someone’s just going to take the job. You’ve got to go out and actively find some guys that your pro guys have identified that can help.”

The Bruins are short on right-side contributors behind Charlie McAvoy. The No. 1 defenseman is ineligible for the first six games of 2026-27 because of his Game 6 slash on Zach Benson.

At forward, the Bruins took a good step last year in the muscle department by signing Tanner Jeannot and watching Mark Kastelic reach another tier. Their priority is to incorporate more speed and skill to increase the offensive metabolism.

“Getting better in the forecheck side of things,” Sweeney said of the organizational wish list, “and creating a little more anxiety.”

On defense, Colton Parayko is the highest-rated right-shot defenseman on The Athletic’s trade board. Parayko exercised his no-trade protection last year to block a move to Buffalo. 

Up front, while he does not qualify as a No. 1 center, Trocheck would give the Bruins another option in the middle. The Bruins qualified for the 2025-26 playoffs partly because the sum of centers Elias Lindholm, Pavel Zacha and Fraser Minten — Marat Khusnutdinov and Casey Mittelstadt also pitched on occasion — was greater than its parts. 

“I don’t look at this as a negative right now,” Sweeney said. “I think the depth of our center position is really good.”

Sweeney said he would consider trading current players off the roster. Zacha would bring back a considerable return because of his position, 30-goal season and versatility. He has one year left on his deal at $4.75 million annually. 

However, dealing Zacha would weaken the Bruins on all fronts: five-on-five, power play, penalty kill, faceoffs. He is eligible to sign an extension on July 1. Unless the difference between the sides is too wide to bridge, it is likely that Zacha will be staying.

“My goal is to extend Pav,” Sweeney said. “He had a really good year for us. You ask Marco (Sturm), he’d say the same thing, how important he is. Maybe it does remain by committee. But he’s a big part of our team.”

If Zacha isn’t moved, other candidates include Mittelstadt and Mason Lohrei. Mittelstadt, like Zacha, is a multi-position forward with one year left on his contract. But Mittelstadt does not kill penalties. He saw most of his power-play action on the No. 2 unit. Whether the Bruins consider the 27-year-old a long-term contributor is unknown.

Lohrei, 25, will be restricted after 2026-27. His offensive-minded approach may be a better fit elsewhere. At the same time, the Bruins are high on Frederic Brunet, who shares up-ice strengths with Lohrei. Brunet, 22, led Providence defensemen with 36 points in 2025-26. He will need waivers to be assigned next season.

“Freddy’s done a really good job,” Sweeney said. “I think he’s put himself on our radar now to really push for an NHL opportunity.”

The Bruins have the No. 23 pick on Friday. On its own, it is not a selection that would typically bring back NHL help on the trade market. The Bruins would most likely have to pair the pick with additional assets to check off either of those boxes up front or on defense.

“We’d like to add to the group,” said Sweeney when asked whether he would trade the pick. “Whether it’s a move up or a move back, or if it’s in player acquisition, we have to be in the marketplace.”

Sweeney continues to negotiate with Viktor Arvidsson and Andrew Peeke, who will become unrestricted on July 1. If they are unable to agree with either player, the GM will have to execute additional transactions to keep pace.

“I think we’re perfectly fine to compete in the division,” Sweeney said. “But we have to address some areas to acknowledge that other teams have finished ahead of us right now.”