The Boston Bruins are making a change on their coaching staff. As first reported by The Fourth Period's David Pagnotta on Thursday, the Bruins are not renewing the contract of assistant coach Jay Leach and will move on from him.
Leach spent the last two years as a Bruins assistant, working primarily with the team's defensemen. He previously spent four years as head coach of the Providence Bruins from 2017-21 and three years as a Seattle Kraken assistant from 2021-24.
Leach was and is well-respected in the Bruins organization, and interviewed for their head coaching job before Marco Sturm was hired last offseason, but the on-ice results just haven't been what anyone was hoping for.
The Bruins ranked 29th in 5-on-5 expected goals against this past season, an area where they actually statistically regressed from a disastrous 2024-25 season. Vastly improved goaltending, particularly from Jeremy Swayman, helped cover up those defensive shortcomings in the regular season, but the dam broke in the playoffs when the Bruins gave up more high-danger chances than any other team in the first round and ultimately lost to Buffalo in six games.
That isn't all on Leach, of course. The Bruins struggled to adapt to Sturm's new hybrid defensive system early in the year. The personnel wasn't good enough, with a clear need for at least one more legitimate top-four defenseman. The forwards didn't possess the puck enough offensively, putting even more pressure on the defense.
But, something did need to change. And moving on from Leach makes sense, especially since he wasn't a Sturm hire in the first place. Now Sturm and general manager Don Sweeney will have a chance to go out and find a defensive specialist of Sturm's choosing, someone who might mesh a bit better and have more command of his system.
Leach is the second notable departure from the Bruins organization this offseason, as the team announced last week that assistant general manager Jamie Langenbrunner was being allowed to pursue other opportunities in the league. There has not been any news yet on how the Bruins plan to replace Langenbrunner, but a promotion for Adam McQuaid (currently director of player development) or Zdeno Chara (currently hockey operations advisor and mentor) could be among the options.
Hagens a healthy scratch at Worlds
Bruins fans who were excited to watch James Hagens play for Team USA at the World Championships have been disappointed.
Hagens did play in the Americans' first three games, but struggled to make any kind of impact while playing 12:31 per game in a fourth-line role. Then he was a healthy scratch in the fourth game on Wednesday, a 4-3 shootout win over Germany.
If this were a better American team, with more higher-end NHLers like the squad that won gold in this tournament last year, Hagens' minimal role wouldn't be as disappointing. But this team is filled with depth and fringe NHLers, and even a couple college guys.
Hagens is the youngest player on the team, which is worth remembering here, but I'm sure both he and the Bruins were hoping he'd have a bigger role. It's not worth panicking over, but it is a notable speed bump for Hagens. We'll see if he finds his way back into the lineup as the tournament goes on; the U.S. still has three group stage games to go, followed – hopefully – by a knockout round.
On a more positive World Championship note, fellow Bruins youngster Fraser Minten has been very good for Canada through four games, with a goal and two assists. He was named player of the game for the Canadians' tournament-opening win over Sweden.
Jellvik signs in Sweden
News broke on Tuesday that Bruins 2021 fifth-round pick Oskar Jellvik is returning home to Sweden after signing with Rogle BK of the SHL, the country's highest professional league.
Jellvik looked like a promising prospect a couple years ago. As a sophomore at Boston College in 2023-24, he had 42 points in 41 games while playing in a top-six role for a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country all season until falling to Denver in the national championship game.
His development got derailed by injuries in the two years since then, though. Jellvik played just 32 games total across his junior and senior seasons, including just nine this past season. His production dropped off dramatically, with 16 total points in that time.
I had heard at the end of BC's season that the Bruins were leaning towards not signing Jellvik to an entry-level contract, and it appears that is indeed what they decided.
Meanwhile, fellow BC Eagle and 2021 draft pick Andre Gasseau seems destined to go unsigned as well. Gasseau reportedly wanted NHL playing time before the end of the season, which the Bruins were unwilling to give the seventh-rounder as they pushed for a playoff spot. Gasseau can become a free agent later this summer.
The Bruins are also unlikely to sign fourth-round goalie Philip Svedeback from that 2021 class, opting to sign Merrimack goalie Max Lundgren instead. In addition, they've already traded away third-round Brett Harrison and sixth-rounder Ryan Mast.
All that's left from the 2021 class is first-rounder Fabian Lysell, who remains buried in Providence outside of a 12-game cup of coffee during the 2024-25 season, and seventh-rounder Ty Gallagher, who has a year left on an AHL deal with Providence.
Not hitting on a bunch of mid- to late-round picks is not really a big deal, but if Lysell doesn't miraculously break through as an NHL regular in 2026-27, it's looking like that seven-man 2021 draft class is going to be a complete bust top-to-bottom.
The 2022 class looks a little more promising with second-rounder Matt Poitras, fourth-rounder Dans Locmelis and fifth-rounder Frederic Brunet, but it's getting close to make-or-break time for those guys, too. Poitras and Brunet both have three pro seasons under their belt already, and it's fair to wonder how much more they can really get out of another AHL season if they don't crack Boston's roster this fall.
Nemec, Zellweger among D targets to monitor
We mentioned at the top that while a coaching change on defense might help, some personnel upgrades are needed as well.
The Bruins could look to free agency for that. Rasmus Andersson (whom they nearly acquired via trade during the season) and Darren Raddysh top the market there, but the Bruins better be ready to spend in terms of both money and years if they want either. Raddysh is already 30 and Andersson turns 30 in October.
If the Bruins prefer someone a little younger, even if a bit less proven, they could look to the trade market. Two names to keep an eye on there: New Jersey's Simon Nemec and Anaheim's Olen Zellweger. Both are 22 and both are restricted free agents who may be unhappy with their current situations.
Nemec, the second overall pick in 2022, has had good stretches during his three NHL seasons, but hasn't quite lived up to all the hype yet. The 6-foot-1 right shot had a career-high 26 points (11g, 15a) in 68 games this season while averaging 19:40 time on ice.
A report out of Nemec's home country of Slovakia on Thursday claimed that he had requested a trade, but other reports – from both Slovakia and the U.S. – quickly refuted that. Still, Nemec's name had also popped up in trade rumors during the season. Where there's smoke, there's fire?
As for Zellweger, he played a career-high 76 games this season, but was then a healthy scratch for nine straight playoff games before finally drawing in for the Ducks' final three games of their second-round loss to Vegas.
The Ducks are trying to strike a balance between all their young talent and enough veterans to help lead the way, and you wonder if Zellweger could get shuffled out like he did this postseason. He's undersized at 5-foot-10, but he's an excellent skater and can really help drive transition, something the Bruins could certainly use on the back end.
Summer schedule announced
The Bruins announced some key offseason dates this week:
May 31-June 6: Scouting combine in Buffalo
June 26-27: NHL Draft in Buffalo
June 29-July 2: Bruins development camp at Warrior Ice Arena
July 1: NHL free agency begins
Sept. 11: Bruins rookie camp opens at Warrior
Sept. 16: Bruins training camp opens at Warrior
