Bruins players grateful for front office's "all-in" approach

BOSTON -- The Bruins front office is not messing around this season. And the players are very grateful for that.

Boston is at the top of the NHL standings by a large margin and sits above everyone else in most offensive and goaltending stats. But that didn't deter Don Sweeney and company from surrendering future assets to make sure this year's team is at its best when the postseason arrives.

Bruins players are appreciative of Sweeney going above and beyond this season, and they're eager to live up to their end of the bargain come playoff time next month.

Sweeney could have called it a trade season when he acquired defenseman Dmitry Orlov and forward Garnet Hathaway from the Washington Capitals last week, surrendering a 2023 first-round pick, a 2025 second-round pick, and a 2024 third-round pick in the swap. But on Thursday, he shipped another first-round pick (a top-10 protected pick in 2024) out of town to pick up winger Tyler Bertuzzi from the Red Wings.

"It's great. It gives you a lot of confidence," captain Patrice Bergeron said of the front office's in-season moves. "You see the trust they have in us and we have a lot in them. We appreciate that they're doing their work and their job to best improve our team and find the pieces that will make us a better team. They've done that and it's been really exciting."

(Sweeney also gave David Pastrnak an eight-year, $90 million extension on Thursday, which is also a pretty big deal.)

The Bertuzzi pickup will help the Bruins' depth, especially with Nick Folingo landing on IR and Taylor Hall being placed on long-term IR Thursday morning. It makes the Boston roster an even bigger embarrassment of riches, and as Brad Marchand explained after the move, Bertuzzi will bring another level of spice to the ice.

"He has that playoff style," Marchand said of his new teammate. "He plays very, very hard. He's skilled and gritty, he gets inside."

Marchand should know. He and Bertuzzi got very familiar with each other during the 2018 season:

But that heavy game and demeanor is not all that Marchand likes about his former-foe-turned-teammate. Bertuzzi's only playoff action came during his time in the OHL and AHL, but he shined when the spotlight was at its brightest. He helped the Grand Rapid Griffins win a Calder Cup title in 2017, with his nine goals and 10 assists over 19 games earning him MVP honors.

"He shows up big when it matters. He's one of those guys you hate to play against, and come playoff time it's huge to have those guys in the room," said Marchand. "He makes it hard out there, so he'll be a great addition."

Now the pressure is on Bruins players to continue their success into the postseason. While Boston has been downright ferocious during the regular season, the playoffs -- especially the Stanley Cup Playoffs -- are a completely different beast. The success the team has enjoyed since October will mean very little if they don't ride around Boston on duck boats come late June.

But the B's have been tearing up the record books on a seemingly nightly basis since the fall, and with the added depth the front office has given them, the players are confident they can get the job done this summer.

"[The front office has] shown that they have a ton of faith and have that 'all-in' approach with the moves they've made. It falls on the group now," said Marchand. "They did their job, and we have to do ours now."