Deal him in or sit this one out?

His faltering team having lost 10 of 15 over the last five weeks (5-4-6), Don Sweeney was straddling that fragile, ambiguous line of buy/ sell/hold Thursday as the NHL’s Friday 3 p.m. trade deadline approached.

The 57-year-old Bruins general manager normally would be expected to be in it to win it — to be aggressive, to find the missing piece(s) that could make for a bona fide shot at the Stanley Cup. Sweeney has made such plays in the past, with his big “gets” for Rick Nash (2018), Hampus Lindholm (2022), and last spring’s supermarket sweep for Tyler Bertuzzi, Dmitry Orlov, and Garnet Hathaway.

Exciting, promising, and bold, all of it. Nothing makes for more sizzle than trade rumors and the machinations that sometimes turn them into reality.

Yet for all that razzmatazz, those maneuvers paid off only once, modestly, with the Round 1 win over the Maple Leafs in 2018 that was a seven-game nail-biter (not to mention some icky tongue-licking by Brad Marchand). In 2022 and ‘23, the Bruins were one-and-done in Round 1.

Overall, the idea of locking down a long playoff run with a move or two at the deadline — particularly in a sport built around the whims of a bouncing puck — can be, let’s say, as filled with folly as the puck is with rubber.

This very well could be a much different, lowkey deadline for Sweeney. He is short on draft assets, in part because of the aforementioned deals, and his roster asset most likely to be dealt, Jake DeBrusk, has delivered tepid-to-weak numbers to date. The veteran winger has posted a paltry 2-2—4 these last 15 games. He is also only three months away from being an unrestricted free agent.

In short, it cannot be a long line of suitors for DeBrusk. Sweeney’s best play may be to hold him, essentially as a self-rental, and suffer the risk of seeing him walk in July. There then would be no return assets, similar to Torey Krug’s adieu in 2020.

Despite still being in the hunt for the top spot in the NHL standings, the Bruins since the AllStar break generally have been a weak cup of tea. The deficiencies have been many, some puzzling, including a power play gone 6 for 43 (14 percent). Headed into Thursday’s visit by Toronto, the Black and Gold hadn’t tallied more than one man-up goal in the last 24 games (dating to Jan. 9 at Arizona).

The Bruins’ penalty-killing unit, which topped the league for much of the early season, has stumbled along at a 78 percent kill rate (32 for 41) since Jan. 27. Both special teams are ranked No. 8 in the league. Not the stuff to generate a fear factor in the playoffs — at least not in the opposition.

A measure of how the offense has gone of late: Versatile bottom-six forward Morgan Geekie, with six goals, has paced the scoring, ahead of top-six forwards David Pastrnak (5) and Pavel Zacha (5). Brad Marchand (2-5—7) has gone seven straight without a goal; James van Riemsdyk (3-3—6) has gone nine in a row.

Night after night, the offense has lacked the firepower to pull away from opponents.

On the back end, No. 1 defenseman Charlie McAvoy has scored twice in the 15 games since the break.

His goal on Nov. 18 stands as his lone powerplay strike of the season. He remains the No. 1 option at the point on the first PP unit, but too often simply won’t put the hammer down.

The powerhouse Panthers, 12-1-0 in their 13 games, on Wednesday picked up veteran scorer Vladimir Tarasenko from Ottawa for a pair of draft picks.

Flipped from the Blues to the Rangers at the deadline a year ago, Tarasenko has had a decent season (41 points) with the struggling Senators. Surrounded by all that talent in Sunrise, he could be that classic “one-guy-to-put-it-over-thetop” acquisition.

Would the addition of, say, one high-profile scorer dramatically change the outlook here? Doubtful. Sure, a rising tide typically lifts all ships, but with so many scorers underwater here, the answer would have to be a tsunami and not a Tarasenko.

The Bruins back line desperately needs Lindholm, out since wrenching a knee Feb. 19 vs. Dallas, back in the mix. If he is back in short order — as coach Jim Montgomery hinted earlier this week — he could be the club’s best reacquisition at the deadline.

On Wednesday evening, the Flames finally found a new home for ex-Boston College defenseman Noah Hanifin, the 27-year-old coveted by Sweeney in the 2015 draft. The Hurricanes plucked the 6-foot-3-inch Hanifin that spring with the No. 5 pick, a spot where Sweeney no doubt would have done the same, had he been willing to hand Carolina his three picks (13, 14, 15) in Round 1.

Hanifin was dealt to the Golden Knights, the defending Cup champs. Reports also had Vegas considering a contract extension with Hanifin, who is ticketed to become an unrestricted free agent July 1.

Sweeney, without a first-round pick this year (wheeled to Detroit for Bertuzzi), might have had to appease the Flames with a future Round 1 pick to make a serious bid for Hanifin. The Bruins already have gone without a first-rounder since 2021 (No. 21, Fabian Lysell). It looks from here like they’ve stretched that borrow-from-thefuture play to its limits.

Sweeney’s one position of trade strength is in goal, where he has the ability to wheel Linus Ullmark or Jeremy Swayman, though Ullmark’s contract allows the veteran the right to limit the list of prospective acquirers to 16 teams.

The Devils or Kings would have to be interested, but it’s not known whether one or both are on Ullmark’s “ding” list.

The younger Swayman can be dealt anywhere, but it’s virtually impossible to imagine that Sweeney would wheel the kid who might be the best they’ve drafted at that spot since Bill Ranford (No. 52, 1985), and possibly the second best all time to Ken Dryden (No. 14, 1964).

They let Dryden go just a little too soon. Possibly a lesson there to remember, be it here at the deadline, or any time of year.