On heels of Red Wings captain Dylan Larkin’s trade request, Bruins GM Don Sweeney thinks teams will be busy this offseason
BUFFALO — Dylan Larkin sent tremors throughout the NHL Thursday when the longtime Red Wings captain requested a trade out his hometown.
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Aftershocks, in the form of more trade requests (some public, others private) and myriad moves league wide, will likely be the norm this offseason, Bruins general manager Don Sweeney said.
“I think it’s a bunch of different [reasons],” Sweeney told the Globe Friday as he wrapped up a week of chinwags with potential draftees and staff meetings at the NHL’s annual scouting combine. “I’ll reference Larkin and then rumblings of other top players starting to decide whether or not are they’re happy with their current situations, regardless of whether or not they’re signed, and maybe they only have a year left or such.
“I just think players themselves are trying to be a little more proactive in what they’re trying to accomplish and that sometimes disrupts the teams, but sometimes it doesn’t. It presents opportunity where managers are either asked to — I don’t think anybody’s forced to be — but asked to explore things from maybe what you hadn’t been planning for. So, I do believe there’ll be some movement.”
Larkin, a bona fide No. 1 center, will have plenty of suitors, and Detroit GM Steve Yzerman will have to sift through a plethora of offers.
Those offers will spark rumors of who would be heading to Motown in return. It’s similar to what happened in January when Bruins defenseman Mason Lohrei’s name was mentioned in several reports as being dangled as part of a pitch for then-Flames defenseman Rasmus Andersson, who eventually landed in Las Vegas and is trying to help the Golden Knights win the Stanley Cup for the second time.
Sweeney is aware of how rumors can affect a player’s psyche on and off the ice, and that’s the reason honesty is his best policy.
“Well, as a former player, I think you do develop an appreciation for when you may have some things that bother you, and the vast majority of guys do have social media,” he said. “Ultimately, I think our players know me well enough that things are not coming from inside our walls. I do have a job to do and they respect that. They understand the business, but deep down, if a player has a question, I’m going to answer a question.”
Lohrei’s name will undoubtedly be mentioned when trade talk heats up — usually around draft weekend. Sweeney said the young defenseman is a player teams inquire about.
“As I said at the end of the year, Mason’s a young, developing player that’s put up points. He went to the [right] side this year and complemented Hampus [Lindholm],” said Sweeney. “He had a good rebound year from a defensive standpoint. It’s an attractive — I don’t like the word asset — but as I said, he’s got qualities that other teams are going to ask about. When you’re exploring situations, and again, I’m not trolling with players that are out there from our standpoint, teams ask. I ask. … You’re starting to ask questions around about a player. They might be asking questions for people that have interacted with Mason, and that’s how things sort of start to hypothetically leak out.
“But yeah, you should have conversations with the player to understand where he is in his standing. We value the players and I don’t want to be disruptive to what they’re trying to accomplish, certainly from a team perspective, and equally at the personal level.”
Though this week is mainly about potential draftees, other items — particularly trade talk — happen. With all the GMs in the same place, conversations are inevitable.
“You just have opportunities to [talk],” said Sweeney. “What are you looking for? What are you trying to accomplish? So that you have an idea and a pulse of what Team A is doing? Do you have things — and you go back to your group — that might line up? Who may be available? And if you don’t ask the questions, you’re never going to know. So, everybody does it.”
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Sweeney also said it’s unlikely forwards Oskar Jellvik and Andre Gasseau, both of whom were drafted in 2021 and recently wrapped up their Boston College careers, will be joining the franchise. Jellvik (fifth round) signed a two-year deal with Rogle BK of the Swedish Hockey League and Gasseau (seventh round) has decided to “explore opportunities elsewhere,” said Sweeney. “In all likelihood we’ll find a trade opportunity for [Gasseau] between now and August, but he controls that at this point in time. We wanted to sign Andre. Our development guys have done a fabulous job in communicating with him, worked with him for six years, so it’s disappointing organizationally, but the player has this decision to make and he’s made it. You have to respect that.” … Sweeney confirmed the Bruins are parting ways with assistant coach Jay Leach after two seasons and that the search for his replacement is underway. Leach, 46, worked with Boston’s defensemen and was in charge of the club’s penalty kill, which struggled at times in 2025-26. The Bruins’ kill ranked 24th at 77 percent and allowed 64 power-play goals. Only the Canucks (65) yielded more. Leach previously coached the Providence Bruins from 2017-22 and will return to the AHL to coach the Hartford Wolf Pack, the Rangers’ top affiliate.
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