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With several teams still making decisions on their current coaches and many sought-after assistants still alive in the playoffs, the NHL’s coaching carousel is just starting to define itself.
Mike Sullivan and Rick Tocchet each joined the ranks of the unemployed, adding to the list of big names in a summer of big jobs.
There are eight openings — including three Original 6 franchises — and five Stanley Cup-winning coaches looking for work.
It puts the Bruins in an interesting spot as they begin their search. Don Sweeney and Cam Neely have said that Joe Sacco, who was the interim coach for most of the year, will be part of the process.
But if they choose to look elsewhere, the Bruins can sell a team with tradition in a market that players have historically liked to play in. They have a superstar forward in David Pastrnak, two high-end defenseman, a goalie, who was elite a year ago and a high draft pick.
There are holes to fill and there are question marks, but there’s enough there that the Bruins won’t lack for interested candidates.
Here’s a long list of possibilities and whether they make sense for the Bruins:
Sullivan won two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh, but has been the victim of bad roster management around him in recent seasons. The 57-year-old is one of the most respected and well-liked coaches in the league. He led Team USA at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off.
He’s come a long way since beginning his head coaching career with the Bruins. He spent two years at the helm before behind fired and replaced by Dave Lewis.
The Rangers are expected to make him their top target and that might be enough to land him in Manhattan.
But the Bruins have a unique advantage. Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy is Sullivan’s son-in-law. Coaching the Bruins would allow Sullivan to be close to his Marshfield roots, his daughter and his grandson. The Bruins are likely to be interested.
New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette watches from the bench during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)AP
He has Massachusetts ties, Bruins ties and tons of experience. But last year in New York was a mess. He’s much more suited for a team ready to contend. Do the Bruins think that’s them?
A year ago with the Canucks, he was the Jack Adams Award winner for the NHL’s Coach of the Year, an award that has recently led to unemployment not far in the future more than it has postseason success.
In his nine seasons (full and partial) as a head coach, he’s only been to the playoffs twice and has only won a playoff round once. Still Tocchet, who played part of two seasons in Boston, is a likely candidate in Philadelphia, where he played 11 seasons and was a popular player.
The 61-year-old has been an NHL coach at four spots. He often lifts a team early on, but wears out his welcome quickly.
It’s been two years since he was a head coach, seven years since he made the playoffs and 10 since his team won a round. He’s beloved in the game and could be a terrific assistant to help a first-time head coach, but he’s unlikely to be a top-tier candidate in Boston.
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella gives instructions during the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. The Flyers won 4-3 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)AP
Fans like the idea of Tortorella, who won a Stanley Cup in Tampa, because he has the reputation for getting guys to play hard and doesn’t coddle players.
That said, he can be hard to work with and plenty of guys don’t love playing for him, which could make enticing free agents difficult. Plus, shortly before the Flyers fired him, he admitted he has little appetite for a rebuilding process, which makes him a bad fit in Boston.
At the end-of-season press conference, Don Sweeney said the Bruins want a coach who is good at communicating with young players. That’s not Tortorella.
Former Montreal Canadiens and Bruins head coach Claude Julien looks on from behind the bench. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)Getty Images
The sequel is never as good as the original. It’s been four years since Julien, who led the Bruins to the 2011 Stanley Cup, has been a head coach, but he’d like one more spin behind the bench.
Julien was criticized for his handling of young players late in his Boston tenure, which makes him an unlikely rehire for the Bruins, for whom development should be key.
There’s a school of thought that many coaches, even very talented ones, aren’t ready until they have their second job. They’ve learned what worked and what didn’t in the first gig and can apply it when they’re hired again. Claude Julien, Doc Rivers, Terry Francona and Bill Belichick all brought Boston championships in their second jobs.
The Bruins have fished off this pier a lot. Julien, Bruce Cassidy, Jim Montgomery and Sacco were all second-timers.
Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David ZalubowskiAP
Woodcroft was hired in-season, fired in-season and in between went 79-41-13 and won three playoff series for the Oilers.
Is he a good coach who was cut loose too soon because of last year’s slow start in Edmonton? Or a lucky coach, who benefited from Connor McDavid, etc.?
Style-wise, he’d be a huge change, but maybe that would be welcomed.
He had the misfortune of being hired by the Red Wings when their stars got old and they went into rebuilding mode.
Detroit hasn’t been terrific since he left, either. So it’s hard to know how to evaluate Blashill’s 204-261-72 record. He’s worked under Jon Cooper the last three seasons, which doesn’t hurt.
He barely belongs in this category. Since not being promoted after 46 games as the Oilers’ interim coach in 2014-15, he’s bounced from being an NHL assistant and the head guy in the AHL.
Nelson has won three Calder Cups (AHL Championships), including each of the last two in Hershey. At some point, he’s likely to get another look from somebody in the NHL.
Leach, who was an assistant to both Montgomery and Sacco this season, is very well thought of by the Bruins front office. And around the league, he’s considered a promising future head coach.
But hiring a first-time head coach, who worked for a guy they fired and a guy they didn’t hire permanently, could be a tough sell. Not an impossible one. But it seems less likely that they’d go to a third guy, who’d been on the Boston bench already this year.
The Providence Bruins coach has done a terrific job of getting the most out of several players — Matt Poitras, Fabian Lysell, Frederic Brunet, Georgii Merkulov — who the Boston Bruins are hoping could be long-term contributors. On top of that, he led them to a spot in the AHL Playoffs.
The former Bruins forward from Germany scored the winning goal in the first Winter Classic at Fenway and was part of the return in the Joe Thornton trade.
Outside of Boston, he’s been a coach on the rise. After four years as a Kings assistant, he took over as the head coach of the Ontario (California) Reign, where he’s thrived.
The former Bruins standout, whose career was cut short by concussions, spent two years as a head coach in junior hockey and the last two seasons as an NHL assistant in Calgary and Toronto. It might be too early in Savard’s coaching career for him to get an NHL head job, but his connections to Boston make him worth watching.
It took the 58-year-old Velluci a long time in his coaching career to land in the NHL. He spent 22 years in junior hockey and the minors before Mike Sullivan added him to his staff in Pittsburgh. He’s an assistant on Team USA at the World Championships this summer. He’s the sort of guy who would have to get an interview and impress when he gets there.
UMass Hockey vs Denver 10/15/22. Denver Head Coach David Carle, talks to his players during a timeout in the 1st period. photo by J. Anthony RobertsJ. Anthony Roberts
Don Sweeney didn’t mention David Carle, the 35-year-old University of Denver wunderkind coach, or rule out anyone from the Bruins’ search last week.
But he said the next candidate’s resumé should have some NHL on it.
“It should include some form of NHL exposure,” Sweeney said. “I’m going to take the process and identify the criteria that we have in place. The person who comes into this door is gonna have success. We’re gonna set them up for that, we’re gonna work with that. Having NHL experience is part of that. They don’t have to be currently an NHL coach. But exposure to the league is important.”
Carle, who is a hot name among coaching searches, has never been a player or even an assistant coach in the NHL.
UMass Hockey vs BU 11/11/22. BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo, gives instructions to his players during a stop in the action in the 1st period. photo by J. Anthony Roberts
The 50-year-old former NHL player from Winchester spent five years as a Bruins assistant before moving across town to Boston University.
The BU coach has been to three Frozen Fours in three seasons leading the Terriers. There’s an NHL career ahead of him if he wants it, but BU is a pretty good gig, especially with his son likely to be a top recruit a couple of years down the road.
Among the more interesting potential candidates, the Dallas Stars assistant was so well-thought of that Cooper had him as an assistant on Canada’s 4 Nations Staff.
“He just does so many things behind the scenes that help you win,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer told NHL.com. “He’s great at getting your team ready, he’s great at details, he just does a lot of things that help you win.”
He didn’t have much of a playing career and has a video and analytics background. That can be an advantage or a drawback, depending on whether his presence commands the respect of the players in the room.
A well-liked top assistant on Bruce Cassidy’s staff in Vegas, who played in the NHL for more than a decade. Ward, 44, was an AHL assistant for three years and has been in the NHL for the last two. Given his relative inexperience, he’d probably have to nail the interview.
Quenneville has already interviewed for the vacancy in Anaheim. If they choose to hire him, grappling with whether he’s worth the baggage might never even become an option for Boston.
The former Panthers, Blackhawks, Blues and Avalanche coach has been out of the NHL since Oct. 2021 when the three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach resigned in Florida after an NHL report said he mishandled a sexual assault allegation while leading the Blackhawks in 2010.
Quenneville is the second-winningest coach of all-time, but a team has to be willing to absorb the backlash that will come when all the details are rehashed about his handling of the situation. The Bruins were embarrassed after their mishandling of Mitchell Miller. Hiring Quenneville isn’t exactly the same, but would still likely be an unpopular move from a leadership group that doesn’t need a public relations issue as it goes through a rebuild.
Mike Babcock is technically the sixth cup-winner available and he would probably love another shot, but that’s hard to picture given the way he flamed out of his last two spots.
Chara works in the reorganization. He’s smart and respected and his leadership as a player was revered. That doesn’t necessarily translate into coaching. And there’s no indication that he wants to coach. But if the Bruins were looking for an unusual choice, he’d fit the bill.
Others: Patrice Bergeron has indicated that he’ll probably want to work in hockey full-time again at some point, but it would be unlikely for him to go from not working to the grind of being a head coach.
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Mike Sullivan and Rick Tocchet each joined the ranks of the unemployed, adding to the list of big names in a summer of big jobs.
There are eight openings — including three Original 6 franchises — and five Stanley Cup-winning coaches looking for work.
It puts the Bruins in an interesting spot as they begin their search. Don Sweeney and Cam Neely have said that Joe Sacco, who was the interim coach for most of the year, will be part of the process.
But if they choose to look elsewhere, the Bruins can sell a team with tradition in a market that players have historically liked to play in. They have a superstar forward in David Pastrnak, two high-end defenseman, a goalie, who was elite a year ago and a high draft pick.
There are holes to fill and there are question marks, but there’s enough there that the Bruins won’t lack for interested candidates.
Here’s a long list of possibilities and whether they make sense for the Bruins:
Experienced, available veterans
Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan talks with referee Brandon Schrader during the third period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals in Pittsburgh, Thursday, April 17, 2025. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)APMike Sullivan
Sullivan won two Stanley Cups in Pittsburgh, but has been the victim of bad roster management around him in recent seasons. The 57-year-old is one of the most respected and well-liked coaches in the league. He led Team USA at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off.
He’s come a long way since beginning his head coaching career with the Bruins. He spent two years at the helm before behind fired and replaced by Dave Lewis.
The Rangers are expected to make him their top target and that might be enough to land him in Manhattan.
But the Bruins have a unique advantage. Boston defenseman Charlie McAvoy is Sullivan’s son-in-law. Coaching the Bruins would allow Sullivan to be close to his Marshfield roots, his daughter and his grandson. The Bruins are likely to be interested.
New York Rangers head coach Peter Laviolette watches from the bench during the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Washington Capitals, Saturday, Jan. 4, 2025, in Washington. (AP Photo/John McDonnell)AP
Peter Laviolette
He has Massachusetts ties, Bruins ties and tons of experience. But last year in New York was a mess. He’s much more suited for a team ready to contend. Do the Bruins think that’s them?
Rick Tocchet
A year ago with the Canucks, he was the Jack Adams Award winner for the NHL’s Coach of the Year, an award that has recently led to unemployment not far in the future more than it has postseason success.
In his nine seasons (full and partial) as a head coach, he’s only been to the playoffs twice and has only won a playoff round once. Still Tocchet, who played part of two seasons in Boston, is a likely candidate in Philadelphia, where he played 11 seasons and was a popular player.
Gerard Gallant
The 61-year-old has been an NHL coach at four spots. He often lifts a team early on, but wears out his welcome quickly.
Bruce Boudreau
It’s been two years since he was a head coach, seven years since he made the playoffs and 10 since his team won a round. He’s beloved in the game and could be a terrific assistant to help a first-time head coach, but he’s unlikely to be a top-tier candidate in Boston.
Philadelphia Flyers head coach John Tortorella gives instructions during the overtime period of an NHL hockey game against the Pittsburgh Penguins in Pittsburgh, Saturday, Dec. 2, 2023. The Flyers won 4-3 in a shootout. (AP Photo/Gene J. Puskar)AP
John Tortorella
Fans like the idea of Tortorella, who won a Stanley Cup in Tampa, because he has the reputation for getting guys to play hard and doesn’t coddle players.
That said, he can be hard to work with and plenty of guys don’t love playing for him, which could make enticing free agents difficult. Plus, shortly before the Flyers fired him, he admitted he has little appetite for a rebuilding process, which makes him a bad fit in Boston.
At the end-of-season press conference, Don Sweeney said the Bruins want a coach who is good at communicating with young players. That’s not Tortorella.
Former Montreal Canadiens and Bruins head coach Claude Julien looks on from behind the bench. (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)Getty Images
Claude Julien
The sequel is never as good as the original. It’s been four years since Julien, who led the Bruins to the 2011 Stanley Cup, has been a head coach, but he’d like one more spin behind the bench.
Julien was criticized for his handling of young players late in his Boston tenure, which makes him an unlikely rehire for the Bruins, for whom development should be key.
Second-time around
There’s a school of thought that many coaches, even very talented ones, aren’t ready until they have their second job. They’ve learned what worked and what didn’t in the first gig and can apply it when they’re hired again. Claude Julien, Doc Rivers, Terry Francona and Bill Belichick all brought Boston championships in their second jobs.
The Bruins have fished off this pier a lot. Julien, Bruce Cassidy, Jim Montgomery and Sacco were all second-timers.
Edmonton Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft in the second period of an NHL hockey game Tuesday, April 11, 2023, in Denver. (AP Photo/David ZalubowskiAP
Jay Woodcroft
Woodcroft was hired in-season, fired in-season and in between went 79-41-13 and won three playoff series for the Oilers.
Is he a good coach who was cut loose too soon because of last year’s slow start in Edmonton? Or a lucky coach, who benefited from Connor McDavid, etc.?
Style-wise, he’d be a huge change, but maybe that would be welcomed.
Jeff Blashill
He had the misfortune of being hired by the Red Wings when their stars got old and they went into rebuilding mode.
Detroit hasn’t been terrific since he left, either. So it’s hard to know how to evaluate Blashill’s 204-261-72 record. He’s worked under Jon Cooper the last three seasons, which doesn’t hurt.
Todd Nelson
He barely belongs in this category. Since not being promoted after 46 games as the Oilers’ interim coach in 2014-15, he’s bounced from being an NHL assistant and the head guy in the AHL.
Nelson has won three Calder Cups (AHL Championships), including each of the last two in Hershey. At some point, he’s likely to get another look from somebody in the NHL.
In the organization
Seattle Kraken assistant coach Jay Leach, right, yells to players in the second period of an NHL hockey game against the Nashville Predators Thursday, Oct. 14, 2021, in Nashville, Tenn. (AP Photo/Mark Humphrey)APJay Leach
Leach, who was an assistant to both Montgomery and Sacco this season, is very well thought of by the Bruins front office. And around the league, he’s considered a promising future head coach.
But hiring a first-time head coach, who worked for a guy they fired and a guy they didn’t hire permanently, could be a tough sell. Not an impossible one. But it seems less likely that they’d go to a third guy, who’d been on the Boston bench already this year.
Ryan Mougenal
The Providence Bruins coach has done a terrific job of getting the most out of several players — Matt Poitras, Fabian Lysell, Frederic Brunet, Georgii Merkulov — who the Boston Bruins are hoping could be long-term contributors. On top of that, he led them to a spot in the AHL Playoffs.
On the rise
Boston Bruins left wing Marco Sturm celebrates after scoring the game-winning goal in the 2010 Winter Classic at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, Jan. 1, 2010. The Bruins won 2-1 in overtime. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)ASSOCIATED PRESSMarco Sturm
The former Bruins forward from Germany scored the winning goal in the first Winter Classic at Fenway and was part of the return in the Joe Thornton trade.
Outside of Boston, he’s been a coach on the rise. After four years as a Kings assistant, he took over as the head coach of the Ontario (California) Reign, where he’s thrived.
Marc Savard
The former Bruins standout, whose career was cut short by concussions, spent two years as a head coach in junior hockey and the last two seasons as an NHL assistant in Calgary and Toronto. It might be too early in Savard’s coaching career for him to get an NHL head job, but his connections to Boston make him worth watching.
Mike Velluci
It took the 58-year-old Velluci a long time in his coaching career to land in the NHL. He spent 22 years in junior hockey and the minors before Mike Sullivan added him to his staff in Pittsburgh. He’s an assistant on Team USA at the World Championships this summer. He’s the sort of guy who would have to get an interview and impress when he gets there.
UMass Hockey vs Denver 10/15/22. Denver Head Coach David Carle, talks to his players during a timeout in the 1st period. photo by J. Anthony RobertsJ. Anthony Roberts
David Carle
Don Sweeney didn’t mention David Carle, the 35-year-old University of Denver wunderkind coach, or rule out anyone from the Bruins’ search last week.
But he said the next candidate’s resumé should have some NHL on it.
“It should include some form of NHL exposure,” Sweeney said. “I’m going to take the process and identify the criteria that we have in place. The person who comes into this door is gonna have success. We’re gonna set them up for that, we’re gonna work with that. Having NHL experience is part of that. They don’t have to be currently an NHL coach. But exposure to the league is important.”
Carle, who is a hot name among coaching searches, has never been a player or even an assistant coach in the NHL.
UMass Hockey vs BU 11/11/22. BU Head Coach Jay Pandolfo, gives instructions to his players during a stop in the action in the 1st period. photo by J. Anthony Roberts
Jay Pandolfo
The 50-year-old former NHL player from Winchester spent five years as a Bruins assistant before moving across town to Boston University.
The BU coach has been to three Frozen Fours in three seasons leading the Terriers. There’s an NHL career ahead of him if he wants it, but BU is a pretty good gig, especially with his son likely to be a top recruit a couple of years down the road.
Misha Donskov
Among the more interesting potential candidates, the Dallas Stars assistant was so well-thought of that Cooper had him as an assistant on Canada’s 4 Nations Staff.
“He just does so many things behind the scenes that help you win,” Stars head coach Pete DeBoer told NHL.com. “He’s great at getting your team ready, he’s great at details, he just does a lot of things that help you win.”
He didn’t have much of a playing career and has a video and analytics background. That can be an advantage or a drawback, depending on whether his presence commands the respect of the players in the room.
Joel Ward
A well-liked top assistant on Bruce Cassidy’s staff in Vegas, who played in the NHL for more than a decade. Ward, 44, was an AHL assistant for three years and has been in the NHL for the last two. Given his relative inexperience, he’d probably have to nail the interview.
Contoversial
FILE - In this Jan. 21, 2020, file photo, Florida Panthers head coach and former Chicago Blackhawks coach, Joel Quenneville, responds to a question during his first visit back to Chicago as a head coach before an NHL hockey game between the Blackhawks and Panthers. The Blackhawks are holding a briefing Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2021, to discuss the findings of an investigation into allegations that an assistant coach sexually assaulted a player in 2010. The Blackhawks pledged to release the findings of the investigation, which general manager Stan Bowman, former coach Quenneville and others who were in the organization at the time agreed to cooperate with. (AP Photo/Charles Rex Arbogast, File)APJoel Quenneville
Quenneville has already interviewed for the vacancy in Anaheim. If they choose to hire him, grappling with whether he’s worth the baggage might never even become an option for Boston.
The former Panthers, Blackhawks, Blues and Avalanche coach has been out of the NHL since Oct. 2021 when the three-time Stanley Cup-winning coach resigned in Florida after an NHL report said he mishandled a sexual assault allegation while leading the Blackhawks in 2010.
Quenneville is the second-winningest coach of all-time, but a team has to be willing to absorb the backlash that will come when all the details are rehashed about his handling of the situation. The Bruins were embarrassed after their mishandling of Mitchell Miller. Hiring Quenneville isn’t exactly the same, but would still likely be an unpopular move from a leadership group that doesn’t need a public relations issue as it goes through a rebuild.
Others:
Mike Babcock is technically the sixth cup-winner available and he would probably love another shot, but that’s hard to picture given the way he flamed out of his last two spots.
(Way) Outside the Box
Boston Bruins' Zdeno Chara skates during NHL hockey camp, Monday, July 13, 2020, in Boston. (AP Photo/Elise Amendola)APZdeno Chara
Chara works in the reorganization. He’s smart and respected and his leadership as a player was revered. That doesn’t necessarily translate into coaching. And there’s no indication that he wants to coach. But if the Bruins were looking for an unusual choice, he’d fit the bill.
Others: Patrice Bergeron has indicated that he’ll probably want to work in hockey full-time again at some point, but it would be unlikely for him to go from not working to the grind of being a head coach.
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