Brad Marchand, Matt Grzelcyk and Charlie McAvoy are all rehabbing from respective surgeries, expected to miss time to start the upcoming season.

The Bruins are currently without a true No. 1 or No. 2 center on their roster as they await a decision from Patrice Bergeron.

They don’t have a head coach, the previous one, Bruce Cassidy was fired on Monday.

All of this under the watch of President Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney who clearly, don’t have a clue.

Oh, all of this coming before a Stanley Cup champion has been crowned.

“It was a very, very difficult decision yesterday. I met with Bruce in the afternoon, both professionally and personally,” Sweeney said Tuesday. “A really tough day overall, but I had to make a decision that I felt was in the best interest of where our team was at now and moving forward.”

Which direction the Bruins move forward towards remains the off-season’s biggest question.

A question Sweeney himself, doesn’t have the answer to.

“In terms of how I think we are, injuries are going to be a part of that, but we’re a competitive group and we’re going to remain a competitive group, but we may need to infuse at some point in time,” Sweeney said.

“We have the injuries and things that catch up to you that you just can’t get out from under, that’s a problem. And into Bergeron as I referenced last time I was here; it could be a directional shift as well.”

With or without Bergeron, gearing up for another Stanley Cup run or kicking off a rebuild is a debate for another day.

The timing of Sweeney’s decision—remember, Neely made it VERY clear that any decision regarding Cassidy would be Sweeney’s and only his, attempting to wipe his hands clear of another poor decision—is rather odd, almost stringing Cassidy along weeks after the Bruins season came to a disappointing end and other teams across the National Hockey League parted ways with their respective head coaches.

In fact, Sweeney revealed that he and Cassidy had previously met, Sweeney allowing Cassidy to decide on the future of assistant coach Kevin Dean whose contract was not extended.

A weird decision to allow a coach to make only to fire him shortly thereafter.

"The timing after taking a few weeks to unpack, a lot of things happened over the course of the year and where I thought the direction of our team was currently and equally with some of the surgeries and some of the things coming out where our team was going to be going forward and impacting our club, I just felt that the messaging and voice that was going to be required, I felt we needed a new direction,” Sweeney said.

“Then I just went back to work and talking with our group, scouts, management, certainly ownership, and just made a clear decision that it needed to change and that’s where I arrived yesterday afternoon.”

Sweeney later would go on to say that Cassidy never lost room. So, Cassidy never lost the room, but the room needed a new voice?

That just doesn’t add up for me. However, I've never been any good at math.

Sweeney, Neely, owner Jeremy Jacobs or anyone else in management can spin it however they want. But the bottom line here is Cassidy takes the fall for the failures of Sweeney, Neely, and everyone else inside Bruins management.

“I felt that both the message and how it was being delivered and more importantly maybe how it was being received,” Sweeney said about where he thinks Cassidy fell short. “I think the players you know felt they were very well prepared but at times, young and old, they struggle, and sometimes that’s the voice that’s in their head and I think ultimately I had to make a decision that takes us in a different path.”

Sure, sometimes players struggle and the voice in their head is not the best, but how about acknowledging that maybe, just maybe, their struggles are from playing on a line with Nick Foglino because the player’s general manager decided signing him for a third-line roll was the right choice.

Or maybe the struggles of Matt Grzelcyk were caused by him being forced into a role that he’s not equipped for, due to a lack of talent ahead of him in the depth chart.

Maybe Craig Smith gets to the 20-goal mark in a top-six role if he had an actual second line center?

A lot of what ifs I know, but again, further examples of Cassidy taking the blame for his bosses’ errors.

The lack of postseason success under Cassidy is undoubtedly frustrating, how much of that lack of postseason success falls on him is a wonderful debate.

The Bruins on-ice issues were frustrating, I know. Timely scoring, a lack of snarl, mental lapses late in periods.

All the above.

Was it a lack of skill? Or was it a lack of toughness?

“I think it’s both. I think it’s playing with a little bit more pace, and maybe that’s in the bottom six. I think we were well-equipped depth-wise, but when certain players go through their challenges, were other guys able to step up and be with the group,” Sweeney said.

“And that’s on me. You guys asked me the same question, whether I should have continued to add at the deadline, and likely should have.”

Finally… some accountability.

If it hasn’t yet, the Bruins search for a new coach will soon begin. What a situation to walk into, one where the team’s president and general manager don’t have a solid grip on the state of the team.

The Bruins core is aging, the top tiered organizational prospects are lacking, and the depth needed to win in the playoffs is non-existent.

Ahhh yes, Bruce Cassidy’s fault.

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