Time To Trade? Don Sweeney Confirms Bruins Looking For Help ‘Up Front’

To be clear: Don Sweeney isn’t just sitting on his hands.

The Boston Bruins have been decimated by injuries this season, testing both their organizational depth and Bruce Cassidy’s coaching chops. Help could be on the way at some point, though, as Sweeney acknowledged Monday to Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman that Boston is searching for forward depth.

“Up front, certainly,” the Bruins general manager told Friedman of Boston’s quest for reinforcements.

The Bruins remain without several key players, including forward Patrice Bergeron and defensemen Zdeno Chara and Charlie McAvoy. It’ll be difficult for the Bruins to continue to tread water, especially with Boston already struggling to receive production beyond its top line, but Sweeney at least can see what he has in several replacement players while mulling a potential trade.

“We don’t know what our team really looks like,” Sweeney told Friedman. “If there’s good news, it’s that some other guys have had to drive the bus…given us an idea of what they can do. (Coaches) Bruce Cassidy and Kevin Dean were part of our development plan, so they knew what we had.”

The Bruins entered Tuesday in fourth place in the Atlantic Division behind the Tampa Bay Lightning, Buffalo Sabres and Toronto Maple Leafs. They’re currently positioned to lock down a wild-card spot in the Eastern Conference, although there’s obviously a lot of hockey to be played.