Who is the next Bruins coach?
It’s been a tough start to the NHL season for the Bruins. Normally they are the best team in the league and peak way too early and go on to back their way into the playoffs. After adding free agents Elias Lindholm and Nakita Zadorov the expectations were high in Boston. Instead Lindholm looks more like the player he was in Vancouver and Zadorov comes as advertised showing size but racking up penalty minutes as the bruins have the most in the NHL. The special teams are awful with the worst power-play unit in the league and they almost give up as many goals as they score. This is not the characteristics of a Jim Montgomery team as his message is not getting through as the same mistake keep happening.
The truth is the Bruins are a heavy team that is much slower and never replaced Jake Debrusk’s speed at wing. They rank 31st in goals scored and 28th in goals allowed. The roster construction is a major issue but the first domino to fall will be the coach, who is in the final year of his contract. The longer they keep Montgomery it will shield Don Sweeney and Cam Neely from taking blame. The Players also deserve to take some heat as they have not scored a goal in the 3rd period since the home opener. In the loss to Columbus on Monday night David Pastrnak did not register a shot on net. Jeremy Swayman had another rough night as he allowed five goals on 29 shots in the loss. This was after giving up seven goals on 38 shots against the Dallas Stars in his last start. It seems like the players made business decisions.
Montgomery was asked after the game about Swayman’s performance had to do with missing training camp. “I don’t think missing training camp helps anyone. That’s why you have training camps… But by no means do I think today is Jeremy Swayman not having training camp. We’re long into that now.” Montgomery was also seen during the game having another vocal exchange with Brad Marchand who tapped the C on his jersey while on the Bruins bench. The Bruins took another day off on Tuesday and Charlie Coyle indicated many of the issues are to do with poor practice. The time is ticking for Montgomery and It’s time to start looking at who will be the Bruins next coach.
Next Bruins Coach candidates
Jay Leach – Bruins Assistant
Chris Kelly – Bruins Assistant
Joe Sacco – Bruins Assistant
Marc Savard – Toronto Mapleleafs assistant
Nate Leaman – Providence College
Todd MCLellan – Free Agent Coach
Jeff Blashill – Tampa Bay Lightning assistant
Ryan Mougenel- Providence Bruins
Gerrard Gallant- Free Agent Coach
