If Brad Marchand Wins the Conn Smythe, Does Sweeney Finally Admit He Screwed Up?
This isn’t hypothetical. This isn’t some pie-in-the-sky fantasy scenario Bruins fans cling to during the dog days of the offseason. This is very real, and it might be just around the corner. Brad Marchand is still very much Brad Marchand — relentless, hated, clutch, and elite. And if the Bruins’ 2025 Stanley Cup run ends with him lifting the Conn Smythe Trophy, then it’s time we talk about the reckoning Don Sweeney owes the fanbase.
Because if that happens — and at this point, we’d be foolish to bet against it — Sweeney doesn’t get to spin this. He doesn’t get to keep hiding behind “long-term flexibility” or “asset management” or “cap gymnastics.” No, if Marchand leads this team all the way and is recognized as the single most valuable player in the postseason, then Sweeney has to wear every single misstep he’s made since Game 7 in 2019 like an anchor around his neck.
Let’s be honest. The mistakes weren’t subtle. They weren’t even complicated.
He let Patrice Bergeron and David Krejci walk into retirement without giving Marchand a true successor to run with. He gave up first-round picks for one-year rentals who never re-signed. He leaned into size and grit at the exact moment the NHL doubled down on speed and skill. And through it all, he bet that Marchand — at 5’9″, 36 years old, and with thousands of hard playoff minutes on his resume — would simply keep finding a way to carry the team. The most damning part? Marchand did.
The Bruins have continued to be competitive because Marchand refuses to be anything less than excellent. And if he captures a Conn Smythe at this stage in his career, he’ll join an elite, almost mythical group of players who saved their best for last — not because they had help, but because they couldn’t stand the thought of letting their team fall apart.
In other words: he would’ve succeeded in spite of Sweeney, not because of him.
That’s the part the front office doesn’t want to talk about. Sweeney will want credit for building “a competitive team every year.” He’ll point to cap constraints, COVID disruptions, and other organizational challenges. But Marchand winning the Conn Smythe would be the final nail in the coffin of the Sweeney myth. It would mean the Bruins didn’t just survive the post-Bergeron transition — they thrived because one player refused to let mediocrity win.
And here’s where the accountability question gets sharp: Sweeney’s handling of Marchand’s prime has been, at best, negligent. You don’t waste years of a player like this. You don’t treat an all-time talent like a bridge to the next era. You build around him. You go all-in. You make moves that match his compete level, not ones that insult it.
Instead, we’ve had years of treading water — bold moves at deadlines undone by safe summers, prospects overpaid in the hope that “maybe” they’ll turn into something. Taylor Hall? Gone. Tyler Bertuzzi? One-and-done. Hampus Lindholm? Flashes, but not a difference-maker. And meanwhile, Marchand just keeps showing up, keeps wearing the “C” like it was always meant for him, and keeps producing when it matters most.
So if Marchand lifts that Conn Smythe — if he skates to center ice and accepts that MVP trophy under the bright lights while the Bruins are Stanley Cup champions — the organization has to look in the mirror.
That moment will be about Marchand, of course. It’ll be about his refusal to fade, his commitment to excellence, and his unmatched will. But it’ll also be an indictment. A loud, flashing siren calling out just how much Sweeney got wrong, and how lucky he was that one player refused to let it matter.
Because it didn’t have to be this way. Imagine a front office that fully backed Marchand with a top-line center, a true game-breaker on the wing, a blue line that wasn’t constantly in flux. Imagine what this team could’ve been if Sweeney had truly respected the window Marchand was giving him.
Instead, Marchand had to fight for every inch, every win, and possibly — poetically — every vote for the Conn Smythe.
Let’s not forget the irony here, either: Sweeney himself was once the kind of defenseman whose best work often went unnoticed. Yet now, as a GM, he’s become the opposite — someone whose worst work somehow keeps getting a pass. But if Marchand wins that trophy, the spotlight flips. Everyone sees it. The praise won’t be for Sweeney’s roster construction. It’ll be for Marchand’s leadership, resilience, and greatness.
And it should be.
Because Brad Marchand, love him or hate him, will have just authored one of the most remarkable second acts in modern NHL history. From pest to captain, from agitator to Conn Smythe winner. He never needed to change who he was. He just needed someone to believe in who he was becoming.
If Sweeney had done that five years ago — really done that — we might be talking about more than just one Cup run. But here we are. And if the Conn Smythe ends up in Marchand’s hands, then the least Don Sweeney can do is admit what’s been obvious to Bruins fans for years:
He didn’t just fail to build around a superstar — he’s been lucky enough to watch one carry the team anyway.
That’s not team building. That’s survival by greatness. And eventually, greatness runs out.
So yeah, Don: if Marchand wins the Conn Smythe, it’s time you finally admit it.
You screwed up.
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