Currently, on a six-game losing streak and 0-5-1 in their last six, the Boston Bruins are free-falling down the Eastern Conference standings. After a sluggish start to the 2024-25 season, they fired Jim Montgomery in November and replaced him with Joe Sacco on an interim basis. Things started well under Sacco, as things generally do when there is a coaching change during the season, but their recent slump had them on the verge of falling out of a postseason spot.
Whether or not this season is going to be saved or not remains to be seen, but how they can turn it around is going to be difficult. Would a trade turn the tide in Boston and the locker room? Maybe, maybe not. One NHL insider has a wild take on what the next move from the front office could be.
NHL insider suggest that another coaching may be coming change in Boston
Elliotte Friedman on his latest 32 Thoughts: The Podcast, he suggested that GM Don Sweeney and President Cam Neely might make a second coaching change this season. Sacco is 12-10-2 as interim coach. Friedman said the following,
"I think Boston is kind of in shock about where they are. I think they knew that they maybe weren't as great as they were the last few years, but they thought with (Elias) Lindholm and (Nikita) Zadorov, they would have plugged those holes, and they would have been better. And they're not."
First and foremost, Montgomery or Sacco did not sign both players to big contracts. Right now, both are looking like a massive overpay and Friedman is right, neither was going to plug the holes the Black and Gold have.
I’m going to go out on a limb and say that if Sweeney and Neely even entertain firing Sacco, it isn’t going to fix the problem. Why? Well, because it’s not a coaching issue Boston has right now, it’s a roster construction problem, and firing another coach would only deflect the blame away from where it needs to be. Heck, even the fans know it.
To turn things around, if that’s even possible, maybe try bringing up a prospect from the American Hockey League (AHL) and the Providence Bruins. Continuing to roll out the same lineup and getting the same lack of results you would think would create some lineup changes. Whatever is done, firing Sacco would not be the answer this season to turn things around.