Bruins coaching candidates 2.0: Who’s left after the big names signed elsewhere?

The New York Rangers wasted no time targeting Mike Sullivan.

Four days after the Marshfield natives time with the Pittsburgh Penguins concluded, the Rangers signed Sullivan to a five-year, $32.5 million contract .

Another Metropolitan Division team landed its preferred coach Wednesday.

The Philadelphia Flyers signed Rick Tocchet to a five-year, $26.25 million deal.

Tocchets five-year deal pays him $5.25M a year.

He had multiple teams chasing him.

Strong market ends up in a very good contract.

https://t.co/7C36ZZDRlz Pierre LeBrun (@PierreVLeBrun) May 15, 2025 Tocchet was a former Boston Bruins teammate of team president Cam Neely and general manager Don Sweeney.

He was high on the Bruins list, according to a source granted anonymity to discuss conversations with hockey operations personnel.

As for Joel Quenneville, the three-time Stanley Cup winner signed with the Anaheim Ducks.

Advertisement The first tier, the source said of prospective coaches, is pretty much gone.

Whether the Bruins considered any of the three coaches a must-have target is unknown.

It could be that they view a coach from the No.

2 tier as a better fit as the organization rebuilds around David Pastrnak and Charlie McAvoy.

Also, the Bruins have been reluctant about signing coaches to long-term, high-end contracts.

They made a multi-year offer to Jim Montgomery as he began the third and final season of his deal.

Montgomery did not sign.

He was fired on Nov.

19, 2024, and subsequently helped the St.

Louis Blues turn around their season .

So where does this leave the Bruins? Interim coach Joe Sacco and assistant Jay Leach remain in the mix.

Two of the possibilities listed previously are not under consideration.

University of Denver coach David Carle signed a multi-year extension with the Pioneers.

According to a Boston University spokesperson, the Bruins have not asked permission to interview Jay Pandolfo.

On May 5, Sweeney acknowledged there was at least one candidate whose team was still active in Round 2 of the playoffs.

A hire, then, does not appear to be imminent.

Here are 11 remaining candidates: Jeff Blashill A three-year assistant under Jon Cooper with the Tampa Bay Lightning after serving as the Detroit Red Wings head coach for seven seasons, Blashill has had an initial interview, per a league source.

Hes in charge of the Lightnings defense, which allowed 2.63 goals per game in 2024-25, fourth-fewest in the NHL.

Greg Cronin The Arlington native was in the running for the Bruins opening that was filled by Montgomery.

He was recently let go by the Anaheim Ducks after two seasons, replaced by Quenneville.

Hes a hard-charging, high-energy personality who emphasized structure with the Ducks as a first-time NHL head coach.

Misha Donskov In his second season as a Dallas Stars assistant under Peter DeBoer, Donskov was also part of DeBoers staff with the Vegas Golden Knights and remained an assistant under Bruce Cassidy for the teams 2023 Cup.

He was a Team Canada assistant at the 4 Nations Face-Off with Sweeney as GM.

Jay Leach Leach is regarded highly enough by Sweeney that he was brought back to the organization following three seasons with the Seattle Kraken.

As assistant, he was in charge of a defense that suffered with the losses of McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm.

He was the head coach in Providence when Spencer Carbery was his assistant, which reflects well on Leach, considering his coworkers success with the Washington Capitals.

Advertisement Peter Laviolette The Franklin native and former Bruins assistant is arguably the biggest name available following his ouster from the Rangers.

However, given how the franchise was not aggressive in pursuing Sullivan, Tocchet or Quenneville, Laviolette may not match the Bruins preferred profile.

He has a history of rapid turnarounds upon landing a new gig.

Mitch Love In his second season as Carberys assistant with the Capitals, Love is in charge of Washingtons defense.

He has two years of AHL head coaching experience with the Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers, the Calgary Flames affiliates.

He has talked to the Bruins, per a league source, though that would most likely have been a call with the Capitals still playing, with a more formal sitdown to come.

Ryan Mougenel Mougenel just concluded his fourth season as Providences head coach with a second-round loss to the Charlotte Checkers.

Matt Poitras, one of the Bruins most important prospects, scored 41 points in 40 games for Mougenel, adding two goals and two assists in the playoffs.

Kirk Muller Like Love, Muller is in his second season on Carberys staff in Washington.

He fits the Bruins defense-first philosophy given his previous bosses: Darryl Sutter (Calgary), Claude Julien (Montreal Canadiens) and Ken Hitchcock (St.

Louis Blues), all sticklers for D-zone thoroughness.

He was an assistant on the Montreal side of the Bruins-Canadiens rivalry at the most recent height in the late 2000s and had Elias Lindholm in one of his three seasons as head coach with the Carolina Hurricanes.

Joe Sacco Commitment to checking is the biggest checkmark in Saccos column, as Sweeney has identified defense and structure as paramount qualities.

Its undetermined whether he would want to stay with the organization if he doesnt get the full-time designation.

Marco Sturm The ex-Bruin has interviewed for the position, according to a league source.

He just finished his third season as head coach of the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings AHL team.

As a four-year assistant with the Kings, he was imprinted with the organizations emphasis on defending.

Advertisement Jay Woodcroft The longtime lieutenant of Todd McLellan, who has been out of work since being dismissed by the Edmonton Oilers in 2023, has interviewed for the job, according to a league source.

In 2022-23, Woodcrofts final full season with Edmonton, the Oilers had a league-best 32.4 percent conversion rate on the power play.

Notably, Sweeney identified the power play (15.2 percent in 2024-25, No.

29) as a critical area of improvement.

(Top photo of Marco Sturm: Marcel Kusch / Getty Images).

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