Report: Bruins end coaching search, hire Jim Montgomery
After over three weeks of searching and countless interviews, Don Sweeney and the Bruins have finally found their next head coach with the hiring of Jim Montgomery.
Montgomery arrives to the Bruins with a season and a half of NHL head coaching experience with the Stars. In Dallas, Montgomery compiled a 61-43-10 record and took the Stars to the second round of the 2019 playoffs (where they lost a Game 7 to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Blues) before he was ultimately fired by Stars general manager Jim Nill in Dec. 2019 for “unprofessional conduct.”
Shortly after his departure from the club, it was revealed that Montgomery had a drinking problem, and that the 53-year-old had entered a rehabilitation program for his issues with alcohol.
Montgomery has since bounced back, and landed back in the NHL in the process, as he’s spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the Blues. With St. Louis, Montgomery has worked mostly with the team’s forwards and power play, with the Blues’ man advantage clicking at the league’s second-best rate since Montgomery took over for Marc Savard after the 2020 postseason.
Prior to his NHL run, Montgomery built a strong winning program with the University of Denver, which culminated with a national title in 2017. Montgomery also won a pair of championships in the USHL as the head coach of the Dubuque Fighting Saints from 2010 through 2013.
Montgomery, who was a standout at the University of Maine and is still the school’s all-time scoring leader almost 30 years after his departure, has been involved in coaching since 2004. It’s believed that he beat out ex-Rangers coach David Quinn and Kraken assistant Jay Leach for this gig with the Bruins.
Bruins will have six picks in 2022 NHL Draft
CHICAGO, IL – JUNE 24: General Manager Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins attends the 2017 NHL Draft at the United Center on June 24, 2017 in Chicago, Illinois. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Round 2: No. 54 overall
As noted, Boston’s first pick is slated to come in the second round, and at No. 54 overall.
The Bruins have some experience picking around this spot in the past, with Jeremy Lauzon (No. 52 in 2015), Ryan Donato (No. 56 in 2014), Jack Studnicka (No. 53 in 2017), and Mason Lohrei (No. 58 in 2020) among the recent selections around this spot. Overall, the Bruins have picked in this spot just two times in their franchise history, selecting Tom Edur in 1974 and Mattias Karlin in 1997.
Some notable picks around this spot in league history: Duncan Keith, Artem Anisimov, and Chris Osgood.
Nov 21, 2021; Boston, Massachusetts, USA; Calgary Flames goaltender Dan Vladar (80) takes a drink of water during the first period against the Boston Bruins at TD Garden. (Bob DeChiara/USA TODAY Sports)
Round 3: No. 91 overall
As mentioned, the Bruins traded their natural third-round pick to Ottawa back in 2021, but they will have a third-round pick in this year’s draft thanks to the trade that sent Daniel Vladar to the Flames last summer.
This will actually be the Black and Gold’s first time ever picking from the No. 91 overall spot. Some notable third-round selections by the Bruins in the 21st century include Brad Marchand in 2006 and Matt Grzelcyk in 2012.
League-wide notables at No. 91 overall include Marc Savard (though that was a fourth-round pick back when Savard was drafted in ’95), Alex Edler, and Mike Comrie.
(Vladar, by the way, went 13-6-2 with a .906 save percentage in 23 games with the Flames last season. Decent trade return for a goaltender who went ice-cold in the middle of the year and was waiver-eligible entering the season.)
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – SEPTEMBER 23: A detail of the Bruins logo on the sweater of Brad Marchand #63 of the Boston Bruins during the first period of the preseason game at TD Garden. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Round 4: No. 119 overall
After this pick, the B’s will have a 64-pick wait until their next pick, so it’ll be interesting to see where they go here.
The most notable fourth-round pick made under Sweeney is most definitely goaltender Jeremy Swayman, who was taken with the 111th overall pick back in 2017. In addition to Swayman, some notable fourth-round picks in B’s history include Steve Kasper, Joe Juneau, Vladimir Sobotka, and Danton Heinen.
Goaltender (and current Penguins general manager) Rox Hextall is certainly notable No. 119 pick in NHL history.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – MAY 26: General Manager Don Sweeney of the Boston Bruins speaks during Media Day ahead of the 2019 NHL Stanley Cup Final at TD Garden on May 26, 2019 in Boston, Massachusetts. (Bruce Bennett/Getty Images)
Round 6: No. 183
Boston’s sixth-round pick will see them pick from the No. 183 spot for just the second time in franchise history. The last time around, which came all the way back in 2003, it netted ’em forward Nate Thompson, who is (still!) in the midst of a career that’s featured 844 career contests.
The Bruins do have tons of experience drafting around this slot in recent years, too, with Anton Blidh (No. 180, 2013), Dustyn McFaul (No. 181, 2018), Matias Mantykivi (No. 185, 2019), Riley Duran (No. 182, 2020), and Ryan Mast (No. 181, 2021) selected around this spot over the last nine drafts.
Notable No. 183 overall picks in NHL history: Thompson, Donald Audette, Kelly Miller, and Tyler Arnason.
BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS – OCTOBER 02: Zach Senyshyn #19 of the Boston Bruins looks on during the third period of the preseason game against the New York Rangers at TD Garden on October 02, 2021. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)
Round 7: No. 200 overall
Boston’s first seventh-round selection comes via Ottawa, as the Bruins took the Sens’ seventh-round pick in the trade that saw Brown sent to Boston in exchange for 2015 first-round pick Zach Senyshyn and the team’s fifth-round pick.
This will be the B’s first time picking from the ol’ No. 200 spot. Any NHLer drafted in the 200s is basically found money, and this would be no exception. Just six players drafted at the No. 200 overall spot have appeared in an NHL, and former Canadien Sergei Kostitsyn is the most notable of that group.
BOSTON, MA – MAY 08: Fans react after Jake DeBrusk #74 of the Boston Bruins scores in the second period against the Carolina Hurricanes in Game Four of the First Round of the 2022 Stanley Cup Playoffs at TD Garden. (Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)
Round 7: No. 215 overall
Currently slated to be the team’s final pick of the 2022 NHL Draft, the Bruins’ natural seventh-round selection checks in at No. 215 overall. In case you’re wondering, by the way, Zach Trotman, who was selected with the No. 210 overall pick in 2010, is the last Boston seventh-rounder to appear in an NHL game.
Matthew Lombardi, who was originally selected with the No. 215 overall pick in 2000 (but was drafted in the third round when he re-entered two years later), is the most accomplished player drafted in that No. 215 spot in league history, with 536 NHL appearances from 2003 through 2013.
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Ty Anderson is a writer and columnist for 985TheSportsHub.com. He has been covering the Bruins since 2010, and has been a member of the Boston chapter of the PHWA since 2013. Any opinions expressed do not necessarily reflect those of 98.5 The Sports Hub, Beasley Media Group, or any subsidiaries. Yell at him on Twitter: @_TyAnderson.
