What hiring Jay Leach means for the Bruins moving forward

When the Seattle Kraken fired Dave Hakstol back in April, Jay Leach thought it was his time to finally snag a head coaching job in the NHL. However, instead of looking behind the bench, the Kraken turned to their AHL affiliate, the Coachella Valley Firebirds to see if they had any viable fits.

As it turns out, the Firebirds did have a fit in head coach Dan Blysma who had just led his team to the Calder Cup Finals the year before. Just under a month after firing Hakstol, Seattle announced they had hired Blysma as his replacement despite Blysma leading Coachella Valley to a second straight Calder Cup Finals appearance.

Leach, unfortunately, was the casuality of the firing of Hakstol as he was part of a sweeping coaching staff fire, but instead found his way back to Boston where he was hired as an assistant coach to Jim Montgomery on June 13. Montgomery has decided to shuffle his coaching staff, promoting Joe Sacco to associate coach and giving John McLean the role of team skating and skills coach.

This is Leach's second stint as a coach in the Bruins' system, following a string of five seasons as head coach of the Providence Bruins. As head coach of the P-Bruins, he held a record of 136-77-26.

What does the hiring mean for Boston?

While Sacco most certainly solidified his spot as General Manager Don Sweeney's backup plan for Montgomery, bringing someone who has head coaching experience in the system, and someone who played for the team is telling.

Sacco, of course, has been on the staff since 2014, but given his high praise he has received for his penalty kill work, may garner him some interest from other teams for head coaching jobs elsewhere, thereby (eventually) catapulting Leach into a spot to take over for Montgomery once his time with the Bruins is over.

Sure, Leach will start by just working with the the defensemen, but if that works out to be a stronger unit for Boston because of tutelage, don't be alarmed if you see Montgomery, Sweeney or others attempt to move him up in the coaching hierarchy down the road.

Leach has the pedigree in the system, and was once thought to be the one to take over once there was a vacancy with the Bruins before he left for the Kraken.

Will this be the final time he comes back to Boston before he gets a shot or will he have to get his first crack at head coaching elsewhere, much like Josh McDaniels of the Patriots? Let's hope not!