When the Boston Bruins' disappointing 2024-25 season ended, the management team of Charlie Jacobs, Cam Neely, and Don Sweeney made it clear that they were not going into a rebuild, but more of a retool. Well, four months later, it wasn't the "retool" that is going to move the needle with the fanbase.
Since that press conference in April, the Bruins have had some luck on draft night with James Hagens falling to them at No. 7, but he isn't going to be around this year, instead returning to Boston College. Boston did hire Marco Sturm as the next head coach and traded for forward Viktor Arvidsson from the Edmonton Oilers.
As far as free agency went, there was not a lot to choose from, with a lot of players returning to their current clubs, but maybe the two biggest offseason moves are getting defensemen Charlie McAvoy and Hampus Lindholm back healthy.
Speaking at the WEEI Jimmy Fund Radio-Telethon, Jacobs spoke about the upcoming season, and he had a message for Bruins fans.
Charlie Jacobs has a clear message for Boston Bruins fans
Jacobs spoke about the upcoming season for the Black and Gold and he thinks people will be surprised with what they see with a new core and a team looking to bounce-back under a first-year coach.
"So Marco is incredible. He’s quite a communicator, and he's a passionate communicator,'' said Jacobs. "And he has the experience of playing under a lot of very system-oriented coaches while he was a player. And he will tell you about his journey to why he's here today as a National Hockey League head coach. He knew, or at least he had a pretty good idea of what it was going to take for him to skill up enough to be able to step on that bench and lead a team on that National Hockey League level. And it's quite a journey, and it's quite a story. And I think he's going to be - I think all of us will be pleasantly surprised by what we see on the ice.”
Sturm certainly has his work cut out for him with the Bruins, but how many times have we seen a team overachieve under a new coach? Remember the 2022-23 Bruins under Jim Montgomery? I know, the talent level on paper is a lot different, and it would be very foolish to think they could have a repeat season, but if they can bounce back and find their way into the postseason. Let's hope Jacobs is on to something.