Bruins fans stunned by GM move no one asked for

Boston Bruins fans made sure the entire NHL world knew exactly how they felt about GM Don Sweeney at numerous points during their disastrous 2024-25 season. Given their desire to see him fired, you can imagine just how shocking it was for them to see the news that he was given a two-year extension on Tuesday, set to run through the 2027-28 campaign.

The Bruins just wrapped up a season to forget. They finished with just 76 points, the fewest in the Atlantic Division, after entering the year hoping to compete for a Stanley Cup. While Sweeney doesn't deserve all of the blame for their rough year, it's not as if the moves he made proved to be any good. Big contracts he handed out to Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov flopped, Jeremy Swayman struggled after signing his massive extension and nobody other than David Pastrnak was able to find the scoresheet consistently. Even the Jim Montgomery firing proved to be a short-sighted decision in hindsight. Oh yeah, and Brad Marchand was traded to one of the team's biggest rivals, too.

Giving Sweeney an extension, especially when he was still under contract for the 2025-26 season, feels like a slap in the face for Bruins fans. While Sweeney has done a good job getting this Bruins team to the playoffs, they haven't won a Stanley Cup since 2010-11. They haven't been to the Eastern Conference Finals since 2018-19. Despite years of falling short and the team now having to enter a rebuild, Sweeney seems to have a very long leash.

Bruins fans took to X to rant about this extension, and for good reason.

Bruins fans are irate after Don Sweeney gets contract extension

It's not always a great idea to do what the fan base wants, but in this case, it's really hard to justify giving an extension to a GM that they weren't forced to extend when the fan base was as vocal as it was wanting him fired.

The Lindholm contract was questionable at the time it was signed, and it only looks worse now. He had just 17 goals and 47 points in 82 games played, and is set to make $7.75 million annually through the 2030-31 campaign. He'll be in his late 30s when the deal finally expires. The GM who handed out this deal somehow got rewarded with an extension.

You know a move is bad when rival teams get excited about a decision like this. Fans of the Florida Panthers and Montreal Canadiens are literally thanking the Bruins for making this decision.

Sweeney's track record is solid, but the NHL is a "what have you done for me lately" league. Sweeney has made several moves that have backfired in recent years, and none have aged worse than those he made last summer. Giving him another chance when a new GM could have led this team through its rebuild is really hard to justify.