Bruins, Sweeney Centre of Attention in Offseason Full of High-Impact Moves

The NHL offseason has just about wrapped up, with player movement coming to a near halt and a new season quickly emerging around the corner. But during the noisier period, a large amount of high-impact moves were made with big money changing hands.

There were three moves, in particular, that stood out as excellent deals for one side.

The Boston Bruins surprised the hockey world when they opted for a soft reboot of their roster, as new general manager Don Sweeney made a flurry of moves by trading talented players Reilly Smith, Dougie Hamilton and Milan Lucic. While Sweeney's summer was ultimately underwhelming, the Lucic trade yielded an impressive return for the club.

Lucic was coming off somewhat of a disappointing 2015 season where he scored only 18 goals, shooting 8.89 percent at even strength. A valuable top-six power forward, Lucic was entering the last season of his contract, so the Bruins opted to deal him to the Los Angeles Kings for a package consisting of defenseman Colin Miller, goaltender Martin Jones and a first-round draft pick (Jakub Zboril). Sweeney then traded Jones to the San Jose Sharks for a 2016 first rounder and college prospect Sean Kuraly.

While none of the names acquired were mega buzzworthy, the Bruins collectively got an impressive return.

Miller had an excellent season with the American Hockey League champion Manchester Monarchs. The 22-year-old showed he was ready for a regular NHL role, as his breakout 2015 season saw him score 19 goals and 52 points, while breaking the AHL record for hardest shot. He's got nothing more to prove at the lower level.

Zboril is remembered for being one of the three first rounders Sweeney took in a row that was panned by most analysts, but he's a steady, confident defenseman whom Elite Prospects called a low-risk, high-reward player.

Trading Jones, who has only played 34 regular season NHL games for a 2016 first-round pick is good asset management, and was necessary when factoring the Bruins' organizational depth between the pipes. Jones has the potential to be a starter, but that never would have come to fruition in Boston, while Kuraly is another solid prospect to add to the system. Perhaps most importantly, the move freed up cap space which the club used to sign Matt Beleskey to a surprisingly reasonable five-year, $19.8 million deal. While he's not likely to emulate his 30-goal pace last year, he's a comparable player to Lucic and should be a lock for 10–15 goals in 2016. It was a great haul for a player who's an unrestricted free agent at the end of next season.

The Bruins' direction may be unclear, but this move showed Sweeney isn't totally incompetent.

Sweeney does, however, has the distinction of making arguably the worst move by a general manager this offseason by trading away Hamilton. Calgary general manager Brad Treliving fleeced the Bruins by acquiring the 22-year-old defenseman for a first-round draft pick (Zachary Senyshyn) and two second rounders.

While the draft picks are nothing to scoff about, Boston's return was miniscule. Hamilton is an elite 6'5" defenseman who isn't even close to his prime, yet still spectacular. He scored 10 goals and 42 points, while playing over 20 minutes per game last season and as his WOWY (how a player performs with or without another player) show, he positively affected his teammates' possession by driving play.

Calgary already possessed an impressive defensive core with T.J. Brodie, Mark Giordano and Dennis Wideman. Adding Hamilton to the mix places the team among the best top-four defensive groups in the NHL.

The Flames did the smart thing and immediately locked up Hamilton to a six-year, $34.5 million deal which will keep him with the club until 2021. Hamilton is still going to get better, so this move, while impressive now, will look even better in a couple of years.

Between 2012–2015 only two players scored more goals at even strength (55) than Phil Kessel. The 27-year-old took a lot of unwarranted criticism for his appearance and demeanor, with one Toronto columnist even tracking how many hot dogs he supposedly ate, when in reality none of those things took away from Kessel being one of the NHL's elite goal scorers.

Kessel routinely dominated offensively during his tenure with the Toronto Maple Leafs despite playing a majority of his ice time with below replacement level Tyler Bozak as his center. Even in a down year in 2015, Kessel scored 25 goals.

Both the Leafs and Kessel needed a split from each other, and they found an amicable one with Toronto trading the winger, plus Tyler Biggs, Tim Erixon and a conditional draft pick to the Pittsburgh Penguins for prospect Kasperi Kapanen, defenseman Scott Harrington, depth forward Nick Spaling and a conditional first and third rounder. The cost, while high, wasn't astronomical. Kapanen and Harrington both have legit NHL futures, but are still a couple of years away from being regulars. The Leafs restocked their improving farm system, while Pittsburgh, clearly in win-now mode, acquired one of the game's best snipers.

The Penguins were a middle of the pack offensive team in 2014-15 despite having the likes of Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin. Adding Kessel to the mix puts them into elite territory in goal-scoring prowess. Kessel himself escapes the Toronto media and gets the biggest linemate upgrade of the season.

It's going to be a lot of fun to watch the Penguins offensively.