from Matt Porter of the Boston Globe,

Short of coming off a Stanley Cup celebration, Sweeney, coming off a season in which he was named GM of the Year in the NHL, is where every GM wants to be.

The structure of his team is rock-solid. Bergeron, Krejci, Coyle, and Sean Kuraly are as good a set of centers as any in the league. Speed, skill, and grit abound on the wings, though a few jobs are up for grabs. Rask and Halak are happy to share net duties for another year. The defense may have its early bumps, since Chara, 42, is on borrowed time, John Moore (shoulder) and Kevan Miller (knee) are recovering, and McAvoy and Carlo are contractual question marks. But there are no malcontents. Once everyone’s back in the room, there is more than enough depth and talent to make another run.

Aided greatly by bargain deals for his three elite forwards (combined price tag of Bergeron, Pastrnak, and Marchand: $19.7 million), Sweeney has drafted and developed this franchise to the elite the last three years, after two years out of the playoffs. It has been the right method because a few kids a year have arrived to supplement the core. It has allowed Sweeney to make intelligent trades (Coyle for Ryan Donato; Johansson for picks) and free agent signings.

Though the McAvoy and Carlo deals are likely to eat up all the remaining $7.4 million in cap space and then some, and eventual extensions for Krug (who could command some $8 million on the open market) and DeBrusk, the Bruins this summer committed more money to their coach — Bruce Cassidy, believed to be earning in the $3 million range on a three-year extension signed this past week — than incoming talent. The July 1 prudence sits in stark contrast to some of Sweeney’s less-inspired signings, such as giving five years each to Matt Beleskey (2015) and David Backes (2016).

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