Don Sweeney has been in the general manager position for the Boston Bruins for almost a decade now. While there have been plenty of highs and lows, he has certainly put together two great rosters in the last two seasons. The team is currently first in the Atlantic Division with 71 points, five points ahead of the second-place Florida Panthers.
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As a GM, the area where Sweeney has excelled the most has been his trades. As it’s been discussed many times, he has been fairly weak in his draft classes and while his most recent free agency signing class (James van Riemsdyk, Morgan Geekie) has been really great, he hasn’t always hit in that area. But, he has arguably one of the best trade records out of all the active GMs in the league at the moment.
There has been much conversation and debate over the years about what his best trade has been. Is it his trade deadline acquisition of Hampus Lindholm from the Anaheim Ducks? Is it the one-for-one trade of Erik Haula for Pavel Zacha? Or what about his trade for Taylor Hall without having to give up a first-round draft pick?
The most recent performance of a player is always going to affect the rankings, and obviously, Charlie Coyle has excelled in 2023-24. When taking in his entire tenure in Boston along with the phenomenal season so far, I think it is safe to say that Coyle remains the best trade acquisition of Sweeney’s career.
The Coyle Trade
Coyle was a first-round selection of the 2010 Entry Level Draft by the San Jose Sharks at pick number 28. He never suited up for the Sharks though as he was part of the Brent Burns trade the following year that sent him to the Minnesota Wild. He played seven seasons in Minnesota, surpassing the 20-goal mark in one season (2015-16) and getting 50-plus points once (2017-18).
His tenure in Minnesota was solid, but nothing particularly special. With the Bruins’ struggles with depth down the middle, it made sense at the 2019 Trade Deadline to acquire a center. The fact that Coyle is a local product (hailing from Weymouth) who had also played at the NCAA level for Boston University made him all the more attractive player to get.
Sweeney put together the trade deadline acquisition, sending Ryan Donato and a 2019 fifth-round pick to the Wild in exchange for Coyle. While he took a bit to get going once he arrived in Boston and only had six points in his 21 regular season games, he turned it on in the…
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