Changes for the Bruins coaching staff

The Boston Bruins obviously weren’t going to make significant changes to their coaching staff this offseason after taking a demonstrable step forward this past season with a successful regular season followed by advancement to the second round of the Stanley Cup playoffs.

Watching the Florida Panthers roll through to a likely Stanley Cup Final win, where the Bruins were arguably their toughest opponent, has certainly softened the blow of their postseason demise as well.  

But the Black and Gold did announce this week that Jay Leach had been added to Jim Montgomery’s NHL staff after he was caught up in the recent Seattle Kraken coaching staff change involving the firing of Dave Hakstol.

Leach was considering a rising coaching star in the Boston Bruins organization as the head coach in Providence prior to getting hired by the Seattle Kraken in 2021, and he was among the names mentioned for Boston’s open head coaching position prior to Montgomery ultimately getting fired for the head job a year later. So Leach rejoining the Black and Gold staff makes a ton of sense at this point in time as the P-Bruins sported an impressive 136-77-26 record during his time in Providence while the organization developed a slew of young players.

“The Boston Bruins are excited to welcome Jay Leach back to the organization,” said Don Sweeney. “Jay was a very successful coach with the Providence Bruins where he greatly impacted our player development system, and he also brings valuable experience as an assistant coach from the Seattle Kraken. We believe Jay will integrate quickly and complement our current staff as he comes back to the Bruins to work with our defense corps.”

Leach’s hiring spurred on a flurry of other moves involving the coaching staff as Joe Sacco has been elevated to B’s associate coach, and John McLean has been moved to the player development staff as a skating and skills coach for the Black and Gold.

"I’m thrilled to have Jay Leach join our coaching staff,” said Montgomery. “Jay has an impressive track record at both the AHL and NHL level, and his experience connecting with players will greatly benefit our team.

“I’d like to congratulate Joe Sacco on his promotion to Associate Coach. Joe has been an integral part of this staff due to his experience and the passion he brings to our group every day," added Montgomery. "I also want to thank John McLean for his work as an Assistant Coach this past season, and I’m grateful his knowledge of the game will continue to be a tremendous asset for our player development group.”

The 44-year-old Leach is expected to work mostly with the defensemen group in Boston and should serve a key role helping to continue the development of Mason Lohrei into a finished NHL product after an impressive rookie season that ended with him as a regular in the B’s lineup during the Stanley Cup playoffs.

“I don't think we expected Mason Lohrei to step in and play as many games as he did,” admitted Cam Neely during the end-of-season press conference. “Same with Johnny Beecher, came in and stole a job at camp. We weren’t expecting him to take a job at camp so that was a big surprise for us, so those two in particular, I was thinking about.”

The moves make sense on multiple levels as McLean’s expertise is working more in skill and skating development, and also helping develop younger players throughout the organization as they learn about what’s expected of them at the NHL level.

“[McLean] is shifting back to a skating and skill development position where he will remain integrated with our current staff as well as broaden his scope to work with our entire player development system,” said Sweeney. “John was instrumental working with our medical staff on players returning from injury, and his experience as an assistant coach this season will provide great insights to young players throughout our organization to understand the individual work that is required to develop as a Bruin.”

While there is clearly nobody to be scapegoated or blamed, it also seemed clear that something could/should change with the B’s coaching staff after the massive issues with the too many men on the ice penalties during the postseason. The Bruins set a record with seven too many men on the ice calls in just two postseason rounds, and it spoke to some level of chaos or disorganization on the bench when things got heated during the playoffs.

“Seven is a lot, no question. You got to kill off 14 minutes of penalties that you shouldn't be taking. One or two you can understand, but there’s clearly some miscommunication, whether it’s players not prepared to jump or jump too early,” said Neely. “Guys come to the bench and then not getting on the bench. I think there was one in particular where [Brandon] Carlo came out of the penalty box, so I think a defenseman thought it was his change cause Brandon was a defenseman. But I think it was a forward that needed to go.

“So there’s different reasons why it happens, but seven is way too many to have happen, there’s no question about it.”

The most interesting thing about all of this is what it means for the Bruins coaching staff, in general.

Montgomery is believed to be on a three-year contract where he’s entering the last year of his deal with the Bruins and there hasn’t been any news of an extension for a B’s bench boss that’s been extremely successful during the regular season and showed improvement during the playoff pressure cooker in his second go-round with the Bruins this past spring.

“Jim [Montgomery] is a strong, strong communicator. So when you're adding the players that we did and coming in, and having a new captain, I think one of his strengths is his coaching ability to unite players of that sort,” said Sweeney. “[He] clearly identify the areas that we're looking for our group to carry forward that top [puck] possession, the ability to generate, the ability to break out and continue hammering all of those ideals and structure.

“Playing with good structure, I think that's a really fundamental part of what we try to do as an organization is bring players in here that fit into that, but can push us forward.”

Leach is a coach that’s been long viewed by this Bruins organization as head coaching material at the NHL level, and there’s no reason to believe that has changed a couple of years down the road. It stands to reason that Leach could be a contingency plan for the Black and Gold if Montgomery and the B’s go into next season in the final year of his deal, and any decision is made that a coaching change is in order despite the undeniable run of success that Boston has enjoyed over the last few years.