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Elliotte Friedman Reveals Frontrunners to Become Next Head Coach of the Bruins

Originally posted on House of Hockey | By Tom Banks | Last updated May 16, 2025 3:17 PM ET

The Boston Bruins won't be hiring a big name for their next Head Coach, and now we know who the front runners for the role are, according to Elliotte Friedman.

Some of the big name Head Coaching candidates are now off the board for the off-season, and with the Seattle Kraken, Pittsburgh Penguins and Boston Bruins all looking for Head Coaches, they may need to go in surprising directions to find their new bench boss.

According to Elliotte Friedman, the Boston Bruins have narrowed down their Head Coach search, and unsurprisingly, the list of finalists all revolve around inexperienced Head Coaches at the NHL level.

In his latest report, Friedman revealed that the finalists are Marco Sturm, Jay Leach, Jeff Halpern and Jeff Blashill, who all currently serve as assistants around the league, with Leach potentially the favourite given that he currently serves in Boston as an assistant.

However, Friedman hasn't ruled out Capitals assistant Mitch Love either, who was most recently the Head Coach of the AHL's Calgary Wranglers before taking a job with the Capitals, as he is drawing plenty of attention from the three remaining teams with vacancies around the league.

At this point in time, it's unclear who the favourite is for the role, but given that Leach has experience with the team and a relationship with Boston's front office, it's safe to say that he may be the one that Cam Neely and Don Sweeney currently favour in the role.

With free agency, the draft and the trade period now almost upon us, the Bruins won't want to be waiting too long to find their next Head Coach so he can start putting his input into their roster building, but for now, it's safe to say that they'll be looking at a first-time Head Coach in the NHL.

This article first appeared on House of Hockey and was syndicated with permission.

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