Boston Fans Blast Bruins In NHL Front Office Rankings Poll

Anyone that has been on Boston Bruins Twitter verse or listened to Boston sports talk radio this offseason can clearly see that the Bruins fanbase is ticked off more than they have been in the last 16-17 years.

In a recent poll for NHL front office rankings by The Athletic, Bruins fans went scorched earth on their team. Meanwhile, the rest of the NHL fans and insiders were a lot kinder to a team that has missed the Stanley Cup playoffs just four times since the start of the 2005-06 season and the beginning of the salary cap era. The rankings, which were constructed by longtime Athletic NHL scribe Dom Luszyszyn, were graded in six categories: roster building, cap management, drafting and development, trading, free agency and vision.

The rankings also took votes from The Athletic subscribers in their respective fan bases and nationally. Here’s what the rankings and grading looked like for the Boston Bruins team brass both locally and nationally:

Credit: The Athletic

As you can see the highest grade the Boston Bruins received from their own fan base was a C in salary cap management and as Luszyszyn wrote, the C was likely a result of the amazing contracts general manager Don Sweeney has been able to sign the likes of captain Patrice Bergeron – who just signed a one-year, incentive-laden, $2.5 million contract – and David Krejci, who did the same on a one-year, $1 million contract. Sweeney also still has superstar wingers Brad Marchand (8 years, $49 million, $6.1M AAV) and David Pastrnak (six years, $40 million, $6.6M AAV) to bargain deals considering the current market for players of their caliber. Of course, Pastrnak is not signed to an extension yet as the final season of his contract looms, leaving him free to walk as an unrestricted free agent next July. That likely factored into the frustration of Boston Bruins fans polled for the rankings

The rest of the grades on the Bruins from their fan base were C- or below, leaving them with an overall grade of a D. The outside critics weren’t nearly as harsh on the Boston Bruins, giving them an overall grade of a C+ and a B+ in cap management.

The Boston Bruins management and ownership can put off a rebuild as long as they want, but the likelihood is, the team will only get worse after this upcoming season and negativity from their fanbase will only increase.