More names emerge as Bruins enter final stretch of 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.

The Bruins' search for a new head coach appears to be entering its final stretch, according to a new report from The Athletic's Pierre LeBrun.

And some new names have officially entered the mix, too.

"On Bruins' coaching search, my understanding is final interviews will be conducted next week and then a decision to come after that," LeBrun posted on X on Thursday. "Not sure who made the cut. Boston has talked to a lot of people. Marco Sturm, Jay Woodcroft, Mitch Love, Luke Richardson, Joe Sacco, Jay Leach among those believed to have interviewed."

LeBrun's reporting does contain some info that's already dropped along the way here, namely with the Bruins' interest and conversations with names such as Marco Sturm and Jay Woodcroft. The Black and Gold giving both Leach and Sacco legitimate interviews is also something that's come up on the Sports Hub Underground numerous times throughout this search.

But LeBrun's report has also come with two new names in the mix in former Blackhawks head coach Luke Richardson and Capitals assistant Mitch Love.

Love is a name that's been speculated about quite a bit given both the recent success of the Capitals under Spencer Carbury, as well as Love's own success as a head coach in the AHL prior to his stint in Washington. It's also been speculated about quite a bit since Bruins general manager Don Sweeney admitted earlier this month that the Bruins were talking to coaches who were on staffs still competing in Stanley Cup Playoff play (the Capitals were later eliminated by the Hurricanes in round two).

In Washington, Love has been in charge of the Caps' defense, which experienced breakout years from players such as Jakob Chychrun, while secondary weapons like Rasmus Sandin and Martin Fehervary also had strong campaigns with help from Love. As a unit, the Capitals allowed the 10th-fewest shots on goal per game (27.2) during the regular season, and knew how to lock things down in the third period, with a 31-1-1 record in 2024-25 when leading after two periods (fifth-best in hockey).

The 40-year-old Love has also helped run Washington's penalty kill, which finished the regular season tied with the Stars for the fourth-best percentage in hockey (82 percent), and has been a top-10 unit over the course of both of Love's seasons with the Capitals.

Prior to his time in D.C., Love served as the head coach of the Flames' minor-league affiliate, and compiled 96-33-11 record and won the award as the AHL's top coach in back-to-back seasons.

Love's closest connection to Boston came with him skating for the now-defunct Lowell Lock Monsters in 2005-06. As a Lock Monster, Love was teammates with former Bruins fan favorite Johnny Boychuk, while Joe Sacco served as an assistant coach on that team's staff.

Richardson, meanwhile, has been given an interview with the Bruins after a three-year run with the Blackhawks that featured a 57-118-15 record, and ultimately achieved the franchise's goal of tanking well enough to land the No. 1 overall pick and draft Conor Bedard in 2023. But after a busy offseason of additions, the Blackhawks pulled the plug on the Richardson experiment just 26 games into the 2024-25 season, and made a switch after the club faltered out of the gate with an 8-16-2 record.

Ironically enough, Richardson's final game as the head coach of the Blackhawks came against Boston, with Richardson fired by the club after a 4-2 loss to the Bruins in early December.

A hockey lifer (and then some), the 56-year-old Richardson had a 1,417-game NHL career that span from 1987 to 2008, and has been involved in coaching since the 2009-10 season. Prior to his most recent run as Chicago's head coach, Richardson had previously served as an NHL assistant in Ottawa, for the Islanders, and in Montreal. Richardson was also an AHL head coach, and posted a 153-120-31 record in four seasons as the head coach in Binghampton from 2012 through 2016.

The Bruins truly digging in on the coaching search comes with a two-year extension for Don Sweeney made official earlier this week, and with the Bruins one of three NHL teams (the Kraken and Penguins are the others) looking for a new head coach following the Flyers' hiring of Rick Tocchet, Vancouver's hiring of Adam Foote, and Jeff Blashill's move to Chicago.