The Boston Bruins are searching for a new head coach after parting ways with Jim Montgomery during the 2024-25 season. Interim coach Joe Sacco finished the year with a 25-30-7 record, but the Bruins have made it clear a full coaching search is underway. Fortunately, there’s no shortage of options this offseason — and a major new name entered the picture Monday, when the Pittsburgh Penguins and Mike Sullivan mutually agreed to part ways.
For the Bruins, Sullivan makes all the sense in the world. The 57-year-old Boston University alum started his coaching career with the Providence Bruins before becoming an assistant coach with the Bruins for a season. He was later named the 26th head coach of the Boston Bruins and spent the next two seasons in the role before being replaced by Dave Lewis when incoming general manager Peter Chiarelli entered the fold in June of 2006.
Sullivan would spend time as an assistant coach for the U.S. Olympic Hockey Team, the Tampa Bay Lightning, New York Rangers and Vancouver Canucks before eventually joining the Chicago Blackhawks as a player development coach in 2014. He’d then transition a year later into a role as the head coach of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the AHL affiliate of the Pittsburgh Penguins in June 2015 before taking over the reins as the head coach of the NHL squad in December of that same year. He’d immediately win back-to-back Stanley Cup Championships, becoming the only American-born coach to win the Cup more than once.
To say that Sullivan is more experienced now than he was before would be an understatement, especially given the championship pedigree he’d bring to the table.
It would be shocking if the Bruins didn’t immediately reach out to Sullivan about their coaching vacancy, even if there are other names on their short list that they’d like to do their due diligence on. One of these names includes Sacco.
“He’s aware that we’re going to have a coaching search,” said Bruins’ general manager Don Sweeney of Sacco. “He’s aware that he’ll be part of the final group of coaches that we get down to, because I think he’s earned and deserves that.”
Giving Sacco an interview and allowing him to throw his hat into the ring properly is an admirable move by Sweeney, even if it may just be a courtesy gesture more than anything. Realistically, Sullivan makes too much sense for the Bruins outside of one potential hiccup.
Sullivan’s McAvoy Connection
Though Sullivan is a great candidate for the Bruins, it’s important to mention that, beyond his championship pedigree, Massachusetts roots, and history with the organization, he’s also Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy’s father-in-law.
The two valued their time together at the 4 Nations Face-Off earlier this year, with McAvoy being one of the team’s star defenders and Sullivan working as the team’s head coach.
“I can’t tell you what it means to our family and myself to have the opportunity to participate in an event like this with Charlie,” Sullivan said of himself and McAvoy. “He means the world to us for obvious reasons. He’s a terrific person. We’re thrilled that he’s part of our family,” Sullivan said. “I said to him, ‘Listen, when we’re in the tournament here, it’s all business and we’re trying to win.’ He’s all business and I’m all business and we’re trying to win. Someday we’re gonna look back on it we’re gonna smile and we’re gonna appreciate this, this opportunity that we have. To be able to share it with him is a thrill for me and my whole family, quite honestly.”
Is Sullivan the Right Fit for Boston’s Future?
On paper, both seem more than capable of keeping the personal side of things under wraps while operating within the walls of the TD Garden in a professional setting. At the same time, these two are still only human beings and their relationship will not be a secret to anybody else on the team.
In the end, the Bruins’ brass will have to determine if Sullivan is a good fit for their team, especially given the current retooling timeline and his relationship with McAvoy. At the same time, Sullivan will also have to be interested in the job for this scenario to even be a realistic endeavor. If both sides are interested and the fit feels right, it could end up being the perfect match for both the Bruins and Sullivan.
