It has been three weeks since the Boston Bruins were eliminated from the Stanley Cup Playoffs by the Buffalo Sabres. Since then, exit interviews have taken place, and the Bruins brass met with the media for their end-of-the-season media availability.
Boston general manager Don Sweeney signed forward Lukas Reichel, who was acquired from the Vancouver Canucks at the trade deadline back in March, to a one-year deal. As far as the rest of the unrestricted free agents the Black and Gold have, there has been little noise on another level.
When it comes to the coaching staff, this is where things can get interesting. First-year head coach Marco Sturm inherited most of his assistant coaches. One name that many fans would like to see move on is Jay Leach. He worked with the Bruins defenseman, and well, we know how that turned out at times in the regular season and in the series against Buffalo.
On Thursday, David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported that Leach had been let go by Boston. On his latest 32 Thoughts podcast, NHL insider Elliotte Friedman added some more context on what happened and had an interesting take.
As I mentioned on the DFO Rundown Insider Edition today, the #NHLBruins will be parting ways with assistant coach Jay Leach, whose contract is up and I'm told won't be renewed.
— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) May 21, 2026
NHL insider Elliotte Friedman adds more to Jay Leach being let go by Bruins
“One other thing, there was a bit of a weird one on, with Jay Leach, the assistant coach in Boston. So I had heard that he'd been given permission to talk to other teams. And Dave Pagnotta reported he'd been let go by the Bruins. And I heard that's disputed,'' Friedman said.
"Now I think Dave will be right, in the sense that I don't, whenever you're given permission to talk to somebody else, then it's just a matter of time, right? I don't think technically he's been let go. But I do think he's got enough of a name and a reputation out there, that there are going to be other opportunities for him. So it was just kind of a weird one.
"But from what I understand right now, it is he has permission to talk to other teams, and we'll see. But I think in the long run, Pagnotta will be right, in the sense that I don't think he'll be back in Boston next year.”
Leach not coming back next season would not be a surprise. Whether or not he had permission to speak to other teams about a job or not doesn't matter. There needed to be some changes behind the bench, with Sturm's assistant at the top of the list. This allows Strum to hire his own assistant coach (after the front office signs off on it) and bring changes to the back end.
Boston is likely hoping that someone will bite on Leach and offer him a job and he takes it. Regardless, there needed to be change and one is likely on the way, for the good of the team.
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