The Bruins may be narrowing down their coaching search.
According to Fluto Shinzawa of The Athletic, two "leading candidates" have emerged: David Quinn and Jay Leach.
This comes after Joe McDonald of the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported earlier this week that Quinn and Leach were among five candidates scheduled to interview with Boston, along with Jim Montgomery, Joe Sacco and Spencer Carbery.
Shinzawa reports that Quinn will have an in-person interview with the team next week. Leach has not yet interviewed, but is also expected to do so at some point.
Shinzawa notes that Quinn's positive personality and experience working with younger players could work in his favor as the Bruins look to incorporate more young players in the years to come.
Quinn was the head coach at Boston University for five years from 2013-18 and led the Terriers to four NCAA tournaments, two Hockey East tournament titles, and a national championship game appearance. The Cranston, R.I. native coached current Bruins defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Matt Grzelcyk there and by all accounts still has good relationships with both. He also won a national title as an assistant at BU in 2009.
Quinn left BU to become head coach of the New York Rangers in 2018. In his three seasons there, he helped coach up the young nucleus of the team that reached the Eastern Conference finals this season. Quinn did not reach the playoffs himself, though (the Rangers did make the bubble play-in tournament in 2020).
Quinn also has experience as an AHL head coach and as a coach in the U.S. National Team Development Program. This past season, he coached the U.S. Olympic team (including Bruins forward Marc McLaughlin) and U.S. World Championship team.
Leach, a Providence College alum, also has experience coaching young players, including some on the Bruins' current roster. He spent four years as head coach of the Providence Bruins from 2017-21 before moving to the NHL level as an assistant coach with the expansion Seattle Kraken this past season. In 2019-20, his P-Bruins had the best record in the AHL’s Eastern Conference before COVID canceled the remainder of the season.
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