Marco Sturm inherited the Boston Bruins' coaching staff when he took over as head coach last summer, with his only addition being Steve Spott. After Jay Leach left for an AHL head coaching job this week, the opportunity opened up for Sturm to add another one of his own guys, and he chose Matt McIlvane from the San Diego Gulls.
McIlvane's hometown is Naperville, Illinois, but he honed his coaching craft in Germany, spending five years in the DEL before being named Sturm's assistant coach at the 2018 Olympics. He was also on the bench for Germany at the 2021 World Championships, where Bruins forward Lukas Reichel was the team's third-leading scorer.
Sturm should be much more comfortable in his second season as an NHL head coach, and surrounding himself with more coaches that he worked with in the past will only help that process. With Chris Kelly and Spott staying on board, it looks like the staff is set for the 2026-27 season, after questions of whether Spott would go to New York to re-join his longtime friend, Pete DeBoer.
There is an interesting trend that has Bruins fans writing fan fiction on social media. With Sturm's hiring leading Boston to take a chance on Reichel and now to hire another former coach in Germany, fans are wondering how far this connection could go as long as Sturm is the coach.
Bruins fans' pipedream involves a German connection
The Bruins need top talent to fall in their lap.
— Evan Marinofsky (@EvanMarinofsky) June 9, 2026
If Mike Babcock is hired by the Oilers and it goes south…Leon Draisaitl, anyone?? pic.twitter.com/pu2XTDoxQi
Conor Ryan and Evan Marinofsky via Bruins Beat brought up an interesting point with all the drama surrounding the Edmonton Oilers. Both Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl expressed concern about the team's direction after their playoff elimination, and now the team is making the desperate move of inquiring about Mike Babcock as their head coach. It could work out for Edmonton, but it could very well backfire dramatically.
If McDavid leaves Edmonton before the expiration of his contract, it's unlikely that Draisaitl will have any interest in sticking around. If he wants to play with a scoring superstar, there aren't many better ones than Bruins winger David Pastrnak, who is desperate in his own right to get an elite player next to him on the first line.
If playing with Pastrnak isn't enough to get Draisaitl to agree to a trade, then the German connection that is forming in Boston might be enough. If there is somewhere that the Oilers' superstar can go where he can feel at home, the Bruins seem like the most obvious fit.
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