After a much-criticized weekend at the NHL draft, new Bruins general manager Don Sweeney and his staff needed to make a splash on Day 1 of NHL free agency, and he delivered a tsunami.
“I think we’ve improved our overall group and our team,” said Sweeney last night. “And we’re taking it in a direction, I believe, that everyone is excited about. Hopefully it all falls into place.”
The Bruins first dealt underachieving winger Reilly Smith to the Florida Panthers for massive 25-year-old left winger Jimmy Hayes of Dorchester and Boston College. The Panthers also took on the $4.