Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney takes questions from reporters during a news conference, Thursday, April 27, 2017, in Boston. AP
As the Bruins narrow their coaching search, two finalists have been revealed by The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa.
Former Bruins forward (and current Ontario Reign coach) Marco Sturm and Capitals assistant Mitch Love have both moved to an in-person interview stage, according to Shinzawa.
The Fourth Period’s David Pagnotta added that former Oilers coach Jay Woodcroft is among the “remaining contenders,” too, so he appears to be a third finalist.
Sturm, Boston’s hero in the 2010 Winter Classic, has been in the Kings organization since 2018. He served as an assistant for four seasons and then took over as AHL Ontario’s coach in 2022-23. Love is a 40-year-old Capitals assistant who is also rumored to be on Pittsburgh’s radar.
“That Love and Sturm have advanced to in-person interviews signals how the Bruins are thinking about the position,” Shinzawa writes. “Neither has NHL head coaching experience. Sturm was a finalist last year with the Sharks, who hired Ryan Warsofsky. Love may be under consideration by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Seattle Kraken, the other clubs with vacancies.”
As for Woodcroft, he was Edmonton’s head coach for parts of three seasons, winning three playoff series in two postseason runs (2022-23) with the Oilers. Woodcroft amassed a 79-41-13 record behind Edmonton’s bench, but was fired following a slow start to the 2023-24 season.
All three were also named as initial candidates on NHL insider Elliotte Friedman’s SportsNet’s “32 Thoughts” podcast, as the Bruins were reportedly exhaustive in the first Zoom portion of their coaching search.
“I’ve heard they’ve interviewed about 15 guys,” Friedman said. “I asked someone, ‘Who do you think Boston has interviewed?’ The response was, ‘Who haven’t they interviewed?’”
At this point, it’s unknown whether there are more finalists beyond Sturm, Love, and Woodcroft.