NHL insiders share nuggets on Bruins’ head coaching search

UPDATE (6/5/25, 10:37 a.m.): The Boston Bruins have officially named Marco Sturm as their next head coach. Read more about the hire here.

NHL insider Elliotte Friedman is digging as much as he can to break into Fort Knox the Boston Bruins' front office for any possible reports on their head coaching search.

His latest nuggets are plenty in the most recent "32 Thoughts" podcast, including at least one new name to think about in the coaching search. But first, it's worth noting that Friedman isn't confident that the Bruins would pay an exorbitant amount for their next head coach. That's presumably why they did not land Rick Tocchet, who ended up signing with the Philadelphia Flyers for a reported five years and $25 million.

"Boston wasn't willing to go there for Jim Montgomery," Friedman said, referencing a projected salary of $4 million. "I always wondered if or why that would be different this time around."

So, this indicates that the B's aren't necessarily in the market for a big-ticket head coach. They've already talked to assistant Jay Leach, according to Friedman. Leach would be accepting his first full-time head coaching position in Boston, so he likely would come at a relatively low cost. Leach, a former Providence Bruins head coach, was previously an assistant for the Seattle Kraken before coming to Boston last summer.

But Leach still isn't the new name to know. That would be Jay Woodcroft, the former Edmonton Oilers head coach who joined Team Canada at the 2024 IIHF World Championship after being fired during last season. Woodcroft has not been active in coaching ranks in the 2024-25 campaign, but according to Frank Seravelli on the "Morning Cuppa Hockey" podcast, he's emerged as a "leading candidate" for the Bruins (h/t Conor Ryan).

Friedman has lent even more legitimacy to that, saying on "32 Thoughts" that he's "wondered about the possibility of" Woodcroft for Boston. However, as Seravelli noted, Woodcroft is also a lead candidate to join new Kings GM Ken Holland in Los Angeles.

There's also the possibility of Marco Sturm, who came up as a candidate for the Bruins last week. It sounds like Sturm and the Bruins have had fairly extensive talks.

"I think Sturm has a chance there, we'll see," Friedman said. "I wouldn't say that's a done deal by any stretch, but I think he's got a chance. We'll see."

Regardless, it certainly looks like the Bruins are trending toward the direction of experienced-but-affordable for their next head coach. Don Sweeney said in his end-of-season press conference last month that their guy doesn't need to have head coaching experience in the NHL, but they did prefer "exposure to the league." In light of all this criteria, Leach and Sturm make sense.

Woodcroft has actually been a head coach, and he had legitimate success with the Oilers, before the team crashed early in the 2023-24 season and dismissed him. We'll see if that ends up giving him the upper hand over other candidates.