Bruins' coaching search will stretch past the second round of the playoffs

New York Times

06-05-2025

BRIGHTON, Mass. — It took the New York Rangers four days to hire Mike Sullivan as their next head coach. It will take the Boston Bruins longer to lock up their target.
General manager Don Sweeney has conducted multiple introductory phone interviews with prospective coaches. He has yet to interview any candidates in person. At least one target is still coaching into the eight-team second round of the playoffs.
However, Sweeney plans to progress to video interviews shortly. He will then promptly proceed to in-person interviews. Interim coach Joe Sacco and assistant coach Jay Leach remain under consideration.
'It could easily be one of them,' Sweeney said of Sacco and Leach. 'They're strong candidates, and they'll be in the candidate pool, along with some really good experienced-level coaches on different levels. We're going to find the right guy.'
The Bruins have competition. After the New York Rangers filled their vacancy on May 2, following Sullivan's ouster on April 28, six clubs are searching for full-time coaches: the Anaheim Ducks, Chicago Blackhawks, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins, Seattle Kraken and Vancouver Canucks.
David Carle could have been on the Bruins' initial list. Monday, Carle signed a multiyear extension with the University of Denver. Carle, 35, has coached the Pioneers to two NCAA championships.
Sweeney is a methodical operator, usually not influenced by his competitors. Even if Sullivan checked multiple boxes for the Bruins, Sweeney has a plan to conduct a thorough search. He will not accelerate the process.
So far, Sweeney has not gotten specific about how he intends to rebuild the roster with the coaches he has interviewed. He has been asked repeatedly about the health of returning players; Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm, the team's top two defensemen, are expected to be full participants for training camp. The interviews have not advanced to the point where prospective coaches are pitching Bruins-specific concepts, philosophies and plans for improvement.
'Some of them are evaluating their own teams, and (we're) not disrupting that,' Sweeney said of current candidates. 'But the other guys are going through the weeds of what this opportunity represents for them.'
The next coach is unlikely to have his new employer draft an NHL-ready player in June. The Bruins suffered the worst-case scenario in Monday's draft lottery. The team with the NHL's fifth-worst record in 2024-25 will pick seventh on June 27 in Los Angeles, after the New York Islanders and Utah Hockey Club won the first and second slots.
'We're still picking in the upper echelon of the draft, which we haven't done for a significant time period,' Sweeney said. 'So we feel very comfortable in terms of where the top seven picks are. We'll get a good player, an impact player, regardless of the disappointment of moving back a couple spots. It's just the nature of the lottery.'
The last time the Bruins picked this high was in 2010. That year, they took Tyler Seguin No. 2 overall after Taylor Hall.
Sweeney traded his first-round picks in 2018 (for Rick Nash), 2020 (Ondrej Kase), 2022 (Lindholm) and 2023 (Dmitry Orlov and Garnet Hathaway). Their last three first-round picks were Dean Letourneau (No. 25, 2024), Fabian Lysell (No. 21, 2021) and Johnny Beecher (No. 30, 2019).
'The stakes are a little higher. And they should be,' Sweeney said of drafting higher than he's been used to picking in Round 1. 'You're trying to evaluate players that are impacting your hockey club. You do find players that trickle down and impact later on as well. But I think you have to expect to hit your pick when you're picking where we are.'
The Bruins are desperate for skill at every position. They will not necessarily draft out of need at No. 7.
'We're just trying to take the best player that has a chance to be the best player in the National Hockey League he's capable of being,' Sweeney said. 'You always value hockey sense. You always value skating. You always value how competitive the player is. You try and take the best player you possibly can.'
(Photo: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)