Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco will be given the opportunity to interview for the full-time position as the organization casts a wider net over the offseason, general manager Don Sweeney said Wednesday during his end-of-season media availability (via Conor Ryan of the Boston Globe).
Boston has already begun the interview process, Sweeney said, although it is not clear who else they have considered or spoken to. One thing is clear: the Bruins’ top offseason priority is bolstering their offense (via Ryan), and they will name a head coach who they believe can lead a system capable of generating more scoring from their group. Boston’s abysmally poor overall offense (2.71 goals per game, 28th in the league) and power play (15.2%, 29th) were the primary reasons they missed the postseason for the first time since 2016. Those results weren’t due to poor finishing luck; Boston still finished 29th in the league in shots per game with 26.5.
Sacco, 56, had been with the team since the 2014-15 season as an assistant coach before being elevated to interim head coach in the wake of Jim Montgomery’s firing in November. Boston finished the season with a worse points percentage (.460) under Sacco than they did in their first few weeks under Montgomery (.475) and even fell behind the Sabres for last place in the Atlantic Division. Their overall points percentage of .463 was their worst season since the 2006-07 campaign, also the last time they finished last in their division. The flip side – Boston’s lottery odds give them a 41.9% chance at a top-five pick in this year’s draft, something they haven’t held since selecting Tyler Seguin No. 2 overall in 2010.
Previous NHL head coaching experience won’t be a prerequisite, but they will limit their search to names who have served on an NHL bench before, Sweeney said (via Greg Wyshynski of ESPN). They have a quartet of recently-fired names to consider in John Tortorella, Peter Laviolette, Greg Cronin, and Dan Bylsma. However, only the last name on that list jumps out as a team looking to jumpstart their scoring. While the Kraken were not close to the postseason picture, Bylsma managed to take their offense from 29th in the 2023-24 season under Dave Hakstol to 16th in the league this past year.
God no, the team played less inspired with Sacco than they did with Monty. It’s bad enough they’re not firing the knuckleheads in charge but bringing back Sacco just makes no sense.
Just showing him some respect for his time with the team, not a chance of him being head coach.
Bingo.
So Boston wants an established coach who can magically generate offense? The Bruins have always been a responsible, defense-first club, so this would seem at odds with consistent ownership dogma.
Neely and Sweeney have pictures.
At this point, they need to get a real roster out there for a coach to want to coach. Having a first line and 9 3/4 liners is not going to help anyone.
Honestly, I wouldn’t mind Jay Leach or even Jay Woodcraft.
They would be better off with Peter Griffith.