Reports have been ramped up over the last few days that the Boston Bruins are in the home stretch of naming the 30th coach in franchise history.
After revealing that Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love and Ontario Reign head coach Marco Sturm were finalists for the vacancy, the Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa added a third name to the list — current Bruins assistant coach Jay Leach.
“Jay Leach is a finalist for the Boston Bruins vacant head coaching position, a league source who was granted anonymity to discuss conversations regarding hockey operations personnel told The Athletic,” Shinzawa wrote in a column published Thursday night. “Leach had an in-person interview on Thursday at Warrior Ice Arena.”
Leach joined the historic franchise last season after spending the previous three seasons with the Seattle Kraken. He is familiar with the Bruins’ system since he was at the helm for Boston’s AHL affiliate in Providence for four seasons before joining the Kraken.
The 46-year-old former NHL defenseman compiled an overall record of 136-77-16-10 across 239 games as the Baby B’s head coach. Current Bruins stars like Charlie McAvoy and Jeremy Swayman played under Leach during his time in Providence.
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Sturm just finished his third season leading the Reign, the Los Angeles Kings’ AHL club. He was a Kings assistant for the four previous seasons. Like Leach, Sturm also has ties to the Original Sox franchise, but as a player.
The 46-year-old retired forward was acquired by Boston, along with Brad Stuart and Wayne Primeau, in exchange for Joe Thornton in the 2005-06 season. He amassed 106 goals and 87 assists in 302 games for the Black and Gold.
Before joining the Capitals before the 2023-24 campaign, Love was the AHL head coach for the Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers, the Calgary Flames’ affiliates. He is the only candidate who has no ties to the Bruins. However, Love did play professional hockey for the Lowell Lock Monsters, the former AHL affiliate of the Colorado Avalanche at the Tsongas Center in Lowell, Mass., for one season.
All three are known as being sharp communicators who can engage with young players, according to Shinzawa.
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