Jack McCluskey 9y

Neely doesn't want to be Bruins GM

BOSTON -- The Bruins have a job opening, one that’s sure to draw a flood of interest. But not from Cam Neely.

“I’m not a micromanager,” Neely said, “and I don’t want to be a general manager.”

Neely, the team president, and CEO Charlie Jacobs fired general manager Peter Chiarelli on Wednesday -- after nine seasons, seven trips to the playoffs, two Stanley Cup finals appearances and one title -- so the B’s position is vacant.

Neely will have a say in the hiring, and he insists he doesn't want a pawn that he can move around the board however he pleases.

“I want to understand what the vision of the general manager is gonna be for the hockey club, obviously, as we move forward,” he said. “I felt that I was able to have conversations and express my opinions [to Chiarelli]. I felt that I was able to do that the last four, five years, six years.

“But I’m not a micromanager and I don’t intend to be.”

The search for Chiarelli’s replacement begins immediately, with both internal and external candidates likely to be interviewed.

So, Neely was asked, what are you looking for in the Bruins’ next GM?

“As much as I’d like to get into detail with that right now, we’re gonna be going out on a process of trying to find a replacement GM,” Neely said. “If I say everything that I’m looking for, then all the resumes that I get are going to be, ‘This is what I can do for you.’ ”

That said, Neely would certainly like to see changes -- in scouting, in drafting, and in the on-ice product.

“I think maybe we got away a little bit from our identity that we had in the past,” he said. “I don’t think we were as hard a team to play against as we like to be and we were in the past. I thought that got us some success. Our transition game probably needs some improvement, so getting the puck out of our end and through the neutral zone. I think we've gotta find ways to create some more offense.

“Where we've had success is [when] our four lines, they play hard. That doesn't mean you can’t have skill and play hard. It’s something where, is it easy to find? No. But I’d like to see us get back to playing hard, where the team plays for each other. I think we lost that.”

Neely admitted Wednesday that he had conversations with Chiarelli before the trade deadline about his desire to preserve the Bruins’ assets -- including draft picks and top prospects -- and not expend them on short-term solutions.

“When we’re approaching the trade deadline, I have to look at our organization not just for today but for the future, as part of my job,” Neely said. “I just wanted us to be cautious of moving top picks or top prospects for rental players, just based on where I saw our club.”

Both Neely and Jacobs insisted conversations such as those weren't about trying to wrest control of the roster from Chiarelli, but about determining the direction of the franchise in general. And both said Chiarelli was on board.

“I have never interfered with our GM’s ability to make a trade,” Jacobs said, when asked about the salary-cap-inspired deal of Johnny Boychuk. “We work on a very ‘consultative’ process in terms of how we make a decision. I’m fairly certain if Peter was standing up here right now, and if you asked him was he ever prevented from making a trade by me or Cam, I’m certain he would say no.

“We need to empower the GM to fulfill his job to the best of his abilities. And not meddle.”

That includes the decision on whether or not Claude Julien -- who’s under contract for three more seasons -- will be the team’s head coach in 2015-16.

“In all candor, in order to find best candidate you have to give them the freedom to make those decisions on their own, without prejudice from management,” Jacobs said. “That’s how you allow them to fulfill their duties to the best of their abilities.

“Yes, it’ll be part of the process to certainly say ‘We think we have a good coach, we’d like to hear your input on it, the decision is ultimately yours as the new GM.’ ”

For now, the rest of hockey operations -- including assistant GMs Don Sweeney and Scott Bradley and executive director of player personnel John Ferguson -- will continue in their current roles, reporting to Neely. But in the not-too-distant future there will be a new voice atop the Bruins’ hockey ops chart.

“I’m not gonna micromanage a GM, I want him to be able to do his job,” Neely said. “I certainly want to have conversations about why, and what the thought process is to make particular deals or trades and how that’s gonna look for the franchise not just when it happens but moving forward.

“We’re gonna take our time, go through the process and make sure we make a decision we feel is best for the organization.”

Jack McCluskey is an editor for ESPN.com and a frequent contributor to ESPNBoston.com. Follow him on Twitter @jack_mccluskey.

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