Big week ahead for Bruins

As the Bruins scouts and executives convene in Buffalo for this week s NHL scouting combine in advance of what will be a pivotal draft for the organization the rest of us have our eyes fixed upon the sky over Causeway Street waiting for the puff of white smoke to appear A month and a half after the B s season ended with the unit out of the playoffs for the first time in nine years the club has yet to name a head coach that will undertake the job of rebuilding retooling this unit back into a contender But barring a late curveball all signs point to that exhaustive search being done within a matter of days if not hours The connect-the-dots method of determining the frontrunner has led a great number of to believe that Marco Sturm is the leading candidate He s got a connection to the organization having spent parts of five seasons with the crew as a member GM Don Sweeney and unit president Cam Neely know him as a person and he scored certain big goals for the club in its climb back to relevancy But Sturm s not just specific guy with an old Bruins jersey hanging in his closet and looking for a job He s paid his dues in the coaching profession having been the head coach and GM of the German national squad and winning a silver medal in the Olympics an assistant with the Los Angeles Kings for four years and the head coach of the Kings AHL affiliate Ontario Reign the last three years Sturm would make sense Then again three years ago around this time the smart money was on local product David Quinn getting the job until Sweeney shifted subject and hired Jim Montgomery For two years it was a good hire despite the painful lack of playoff success And there are other intriguing candidates who have interviewed this time around albeit none that would get the masses intrigued like a Mike Sullivan or Rick Tocchet Mitch Love has been an assistant on Spencer Carbery s Washington Capitals staff the last two years when the Caps surprised everyone by first making the playoffs in - and then recording the best record in the Eastern Conference in - Love also has marketable head coaching experience in the Western Hockey League and was the AHL coach of the year for two straight years while coaching the Calgary Flames affiliate amassing a - - record He handled the defense with the Caps the last two years If they stay in-house Jay Leach has interviewed as well When he was hired as an assistant for Montgomery s staff last summer it gave off the heir-apparent vibe He d been head coach of the Providence Bruins for four years before spending three seasons as an assistant with the expansion Seattle Kraken He s a strong communicator something Sweeney values But being a part of the - train wreck won t help him at least with most of fans as to whether he d be the right hire or not One man with NHL head coaching experience who has been linked to the Bruins job is former Edmonton Oiler coach Jay Woodcroft who was let go early in the - season after a - - start He d taken the Oilers to the conference finals in his first year as a mid-season replacement and was knocked out in the second round in his only full season behind the Edmonton bench Until we re informed otherwise interim coach Joe Sacco remains in the hunt for the job Even if he doesn t get the top job it would not be a shock if the well-regarded Sacco remains on the staff Bulk of the teams looking for new bench bosses have filled their positions with Sullivan going to the Rangers Tocchet to the Flyers Lane Lambert to the Kraken Jeff Blashill to the Blackhawks Joel Quenneville to the Ducks and Adam Foote to the Canucks The only teams still in search of their coaches are the B s and John Henry s Pittsburgh Penguins both of whom have particular pieces but are looking to fill major holes and have minimal prospects Meanwhile there will be vital legwork to be done at the combine that will require Sweeney s attention maybe a little more than past years when the B s were picking either at the back end of the first round or were without a first-rounder at all They ve got the No pick after the lottery bumped them down two spots Whomever they draft is not expected to help the B s in - but there is the chance that they get a foundational centerman for the future Defenseman Michael Schaefer and center Michael Misa are expected to go - but after that it s anyone s guess as to the order Center presumably a position the B s are looking to bolster in their organization depth chart is well-represented among the top prospects with Boston College s James Hagens Moncton s Caleb Desnoyers Brantford s Jake O Brien Sweden s Anton Frondell Sault Ste Marie s Brady Martin and Brandon s Roger McQueen all in the mix This week the B s brass will get to do a deeper dive on those prospects one of whom could be the kid who one day fills Patrice Bergeron or David Krejci s skates