Sweeney Addresses Studnicka Trade to Vancouver

BOSTON - While the Bruins were cruising to a 5-1 victory over the Detroit Red Wings on Thursday night at TD Garden, they were also making news away from the ice as general manager Don Sweeney announced that the team had traded centerman Jack Studnicka to the Vancouver Canucks in exchange for goaltender Michael DiPietro and the rights to defenseman Jonathan Myrenberg.

"Really, it was an opportunity for Jack to have a reset and go to a team that is looking for a younger center that could probably grow with their group," Sweeney said following the Bruins' win. "And they have significant injuries so I think he goes in and gets an opportunity right away which he probably wouldn't have gotten here."
Coach Jim Montgomery, likewise, said he was happy for Studnicka to get a fresh opportunity elsewhere, while acknowledging the difficulty of finding a spot for the 23-year-old pivot - who played just one game with Boston this season - in the Bruins' lineup with the likes of Patrice Bergeron, David Krejci, and Charlie Coyle manning the middle of the ice.
"It's really hard. I mean, we have four centers that are perfectly slotted, and if a center gets hurt, we have Pavel Zacha who has played there for numerous games in the league," said Montgomery. "Like I keep talking about it, we have really good depth at every position."
The Bruins' depth was tested as the trade was being finalized when Krejci was forced to exit Boston's matchup against the Red Wings with an upper-body injury, leading to Zacha shifting to his natural center position.
"It's a matter of timing, right?" said Sweeney. "Krech gets hurt in the game, so you start to second guess making a move earlier in the day and then finalizing it during the game, but we've made the commitment from a roster standpoint to what direction were going to go."
Sweeney added that he did not "have to move Jack" but felt there were multiple opportunities to get a return for the Ontario native, who was selected in the second round (53rd overall) by Boston in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft. Boston's GM explained that Studnicka's development suffered greatly through the ups and downs of the COVID-19 pandemic and was never able to get fully back on track.
"His initial onboarding [after he was drafted] was really good, his trajectory was really good," said Sweeney. "During the COVID year, it was disjointed for a lot of players and he just kind of got stalled for a little bit. Then it was up and down and opportunities in and out. It's no fault of Jack's, maybe more fault on ours, in terms of just being able to get him fully acclimated to the level that he had been playing at in the AHL and producing.
"We tried him in different positions, played him at the wing a little bit, but he just didn't find the traction when he had his opportunities to really take advantage of it. I mean. I think Jack would admit that he didn't play his best hockey the other night, but he's a great kid. He works awfully hard, he really cares…he's really hard on himself to allow some of the mistakes to just pass through."
Studnicka finished his Bruins career with seven points (goal, six assists) in 38 games, while compiling 34 goals and 96 points in 116 games with Providence.
"I wish him nothing but the best," said Sweeney. "He's a super kid and we're grateful for all the time we got to spend with him here as a Boston Bruin."

More news and notes from Sweeney's Thursday night press conference:

Assessing the Return: DiPietro, 23, played in 34 games for the Abbotsford Canucks of the AHL last season, registering a 15-13-4 record with a 2.95 goals against average and .901 save percentage, while also making three appearance with Vancouver at the NHL level.
The 6-foot, 200-pound native of Windsor, Ontario - also Studnicka's hometown - was selected by Vancouver in the third round (64th overall) in the 2017 NHL Entry Draft.
"We're going to work through that," Sweeney said when asked if DiPietro would report to Providence. "Organizational depth for us in that position is never a bad thing. The guys have done a really good job. Kyle [Keyser] is off to a good start, Keith [Kinkaid] has played well, [Brandon Bussi] has played well. So, we feel we have a lot of depth there now, but we have a couple of things in the works in terms of playing time regularly."
Myrenberg, meanwhile, has played nine games for Mora IK of the HockeyAllsvenskan League in Sweden this season with a goal and two assists. The 6-foot-1, 187-pound blue liner was originally drafted by the Canucks in the fifth round of the 2021 NHL Entry Draft.
"We've done a little bit of leg work there," said Sweeney. "Guys, coincidentally, over the past little while have seen Myrenberg play a little bit. [Bruins European Scouting Coordinator P.J. Axelsson] has a lot of familiarity with the player. He's done a lot of the leg work over the past few days when these conversations started to pick up. We do feel that there is some upside to this player.
"He's young, he's taken a growth spurt, he's 6-3 now so he's got some length. His numbers at the junior level are really good. He's got some experience in the SHL playing very regularly. So, I think there is a development upside here in a positional need organizationally that we felt was a good opportunity for us.
"There's maybe a little longer of a development time associated with this player, but it's just a good opportunity to add to the depth in the organization."
Pastrnak Talks Continue: Sweeney said that discussions with David Pastrnak and his agents on a contract extension are continuing on a regular basis and that "communication has been good," though the sides have not yet "found the end point."
Marchand's Effort No Surprise:Like everyone else watching, Sweeney couldn't help but be impressed with Marchand's two-goal, three-point outing against the Red Wings. He was not, however, very surprised.
"I mean, it's not just one game. There's a pretty long history of Brad being an impactful player for us in all situations," said Sweeney. "It just goes to show how hard the player himself is willing to work and compete to get himself, arguably, at least a month in front of what the timeline was. The doctors were never going to clear him until they felt 100 percent comfortable - and even now, the progression is there.
"Brad will be the first to tell you he wants to play [Friday night in Columbus], but you've got to put the reins on him a little bit. Just an incredibly impactful player in all facets of the game, and we missed him. We were fortunate enough to be in a decent spot, but he adds to our team in every area, and we're a better team because of him."
An Impressive Start: The Bruins have started the 2022-23 campaign 7-1-0, the first time in team history they've won seven of their first eight games. With Marchand and Charlie McAvoy missing to begin the year, it's certainly an impressive feat, though Sweeney is not ready to get ahead of himself.
"We're just trying to take it game by game in all honesty, prepare for [Columbus], take the good things out of [Thursday night] and try to clean up some of the areas like we did in previous games - puck management coming out of Ottawa and recognizing those things," said Sweeney. "I'm proud of the team for everybody stepping up with guys out of the lineup and next man up mentality is really what they've preached. We're fortunate as we always have been with the leadership group that we have, the closeness of the team, and obviously Linus [Ullmark] is off to a really good start and playing great hockey.
"[Jeremy Swayman] had a tremendous rebound game [Thursday night]. Just the pride in each of the players themselves to try to be prepared, and obviously the coaching staff in a short period of time have come together and put forth a game plan to try to get better every day. And that's what we're asking each and every one of us all as an organization. We've got a long road ahead of us."
More Decisions Coming: When asked about what roster moves he may have to make when the injured McAvoy returns, Sweeney said, "Good problems to have when your good players are on the horizon as we referenced with Brad [Thursday night] and we will with Charlie as well," said Sweeney. "We made tough decisions the first part of the year, and we had levers that we knew we're going to have to utilize in order to come out eventually.
"And barring the obvious of further injury, which you never know and can't prepare for, so you just have to make decisions as you see them and have as much depth as you possibly can and withstand injuries when they come. We seem to be in the majority now among teams that are going to face similar challenges, and when you're trying to win, that's what you're going to face."