Cam Neely, Don Sweeney officially on the hot seat for the Bruins

One of the more controversial decisions was made during this NHL offseason when the Boston Bruins decided to terminate head coach Bruce Cassidy; he's since been replaced by Jim Montgomery. 

Meanwhile, one of the biggest questions for this Bruins this offseason is the status of longtime forward and current captain Patrice Bergeron, who saw his contract expire this summer after having given zero indication as to his future plans. Prior to this season, he explained he'd play out the campaign and then make a decision afterwards. And while reports seemed to indicate he'd be re-signing, no announcement has been made. 

The decision to fire Cassidy was met with much pushback from Bruins fans, many of whom are unhappy with the direction of the franchise under team president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney. And according to The Hockey News, both executives are now on the hot seat as the team heads towards a downswing:

"WHY: The Bruins have made the post-season every year for the past six years, and that’s a credit to the management tandem of Neely and Sweeney, who have worked together in their respective roles since 2015. But Stanley Cup success has eluded them, and last season, they were eliminated in the opening round of the playoffs for the first time since 2016-17. There’s a sense the franchise is dealing with the law of diminishing returns, which may be why Neely and Sweeney chose to dismiss longtime head coach Bruce Cassidy this summer, replacing him with former Dallas Stars bench boss Jim Montgomery.

Boston’s core of talent at forward is mostly in their thirties – and that’s not including centers Patrice Bergeron (37) and David Krejci (36), both of who are believed to be returning to the Bruins on one-year contracts for the 2022-23 campaign. The problem for Sweeney is the Bruins have only $4.7 million in salary cap space, and while that issue will be temporarily alleviated because star winger Brad Marchand and elite defenseman Charlie McAvoy both are sidelined for the first couple months of the regular season, that also means Boston will be notably hamstrung talent-wise in a notably more competitive Atlantic Division."