BOSTON — The Bruins power play left much to be desired during the 2024-25 season after it ranked 29th in the NHL.
Scoring in general was one of Boston’s biggest issues, but the man-advantage was particularly glaring. And it wasn’t for lack of opportunities, the Bruins couldn’t win puck battles and zone entries were a problem.
For new Bruins coach Marco Sturm, who was formally introduced on Tuesday, it will be one of his tallest tasks to improve in 2025-26.
So, how does that get fixed?
“We have to find a way to be more connected, more predictable and understand what our strengths are as a group. We spent a lot of time on it,” general manager Don Sweeney said on Tuesday. “There was a lot of time spent on addressing special teams overall because it had been a strength of our team for a lot of years and we took a significant step back last year.”
Sturm said while the Bruins DNA of playing defensively won’t change, but knows being more productive offensively needs to be a priority.
“That’s going to be our goal and what we’re going to address it from Day 1,” the new coach said. “And obviously special teams will be a big part, too.”
Sturm also added: “We want to have the puck more. We have to have better zone entries and not turn pucks over. I think that part was a big issue. In the offensive zone, we’ll put that structure in place, but we also have to be more hungry and we got to have a better mindset.”
With the departure of Joe Sacco, who was Boston’s interim coach since November after Jim Montgomery was relieved of his duties, Boston now has a vacant assistant coach position. Sweeney said the Bruins are aggressively searching for someone, while Sturm added they want someone with power play experience.
“It’s a big hire for me,” Sturm said. “We’re going to take our time a little bit and hopefully the right one will come.”
