We knew Bruins interim head coach Joe Sacco and assistant coach Jay Leach were candidates for Boston’s head coaching job. General manager Don Sweeney told us that Monday night. Now we’re starting to get an idea of who he might be looking at for outside candidates.
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta reported Friday afternoon that Marco Sturm is “under serious consideration” for the job. Earlier in the day, Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli said that he believes the Bruins are “interested” in Rick Tocchet, which echoes a report from RG’s Jimmy Murphy on Thursday.
Tocchet is the bigger, more experienced name, so let’s start there. Tocchet, 61, stepped down as Vancouver Canucks head coach on April 29 after three seasons there. After getting to the second round of the playoffs in 2024, the Canucks missed the playoffs this season with a 38-30-14 record.
Tocchet previously spent four seasons as head coach of the Arizona Coyotes from 2017-21 and two as head coach of the Tampa Bay Lightning from 2008-10. The only year he made the playoffs was the COVID-shortened 2019-20 season. Tocchet won two Stanley Cups as an assistant coach with the Pittsburgh Penguins in 2016 and 2017.
As a player, Tocchet played 18 years in the NHL from 1984-2002, including parts of two seasons with the Bruins in 1995-96 and 1996-97, when he was teammates with both Sweeney and Bruins president Cam Neely.
The Bruins are going to have to pay up if they really want Tocchet, though. Seravalli reports that the Penguins, Philadelphia Flyers and Seattle Kraken are all interested as well, and that Tocchet could ultimately land a contract that is at least five years and at least $6 million per year. That would make him one of the highest-paid coaches in NHL history.
Sturm, 46, has never been an NHL head coach and won’t cost nearly as much, but could be every bit as worthy a candidate. He has spent the last three seasons as head coach of the Ontario Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL affiliate, posting an overall record of 119-80-17.
The native of Germany was also the head coach of the German national team from 2015-18, helping to lead a program resurgence that culminated in a surprise silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics (which was played without NHL players). In between those two head coaching gigs, Sturm was an assistant coach for the Kings for four years from 2018-22, so he has the “NHL exposure” Sweeney mentioned as a borderline prerequisite.
Sturm played 15 years in the NHL from 1997-2012, including five seasons with the Bruins from 2005-10 after he was acquired from San Jose as part of the Joe Thornton trade.
Sweeney did also say on Monday that he was looking at candidates who are still coaching in the playoffs, which Tocchet and Sturm are not. So, it’s certainly possible that there will be other serious candidates to emerge in the coming weeks.
I have wondered on The Skate Podcast about Dallas Stars assistant coach Misha Donskov, who was also an assistant for Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off… where Sweeney was the team’s GM. Prior to his two years in Dallas, Donskov spent seven years with the Vegas Golden Knights, serving as director of hockey operations from 2016-20 and then as an assistant coach from 2020-23. He won a Stanley Cup there in 2023 as a member of Bruce Cassidy’s staff.
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