When Marco Sturm was hired as head coach of the Boston Bruins a few weeks ago, it was pretty clear the B’s were targeting a very specific type of assistant coach to be brought on board with him.
They were eying a power play coach that could spark some improvement from a B’s group that finished 29th in the NHL last season with a paltry 15.2 percent success rate, and truth be told, was dreadful all around on special teams. The PP specifically took a big drop for a team that had scored on 22 percent of their PP chances in each of the previous two seasons, while finishing top-15 in the NHL where power play success and regular season points go hand-in-hand.
It wasn’t just a PP guru, however, as the Bruins also needed an assistant coach with a healthy dose of NHL experience that could advise on the bench after losing interim head coach Joe Sacco, who had been that voice of experience on the Bruins bench for the last 10 plus years, to Mike Sullivan’s Rangers staff.
Enter Steve Spott, who found himself looking for work after Pete DeBoer was fired by the Dallas Stars and presumably isn’t going to land anywhere as a head coach by the start of next season. Spott has been the architect behind some excellent power play units with the Dallas Stars over the last few seasons, and before that worked alongside DeBoer in both San Jose and Vegas during his head coaching stints in each locale.
It was confounding to watch the Bruins' power play flounder last season with one of the most dangerous offensive weapons in the league in David Pastrnak, and truthfully there are zero excuses why it should be as ineffective as it was through the down season. The 57-year-old Spott should be able to change that and bring some structure and creativity back to the man advantage, and realistically get it back to where it had been previously with the Black and Gold.
It will likely all start with getting the unit running as a five-man team rather than four guys standing around waiting to react off what No. 88 is doing with the puck from the elbow at the left face-off dot.
“I’m incredibly excited and honored to join the Boston Bruins organization,” said Spott, in a statement released by the Bruins. “Being part of an Original Six franchise with such a proud history and tradition means a great deal to me and my family. The opportunity to work alongside Marco and the rest of this coaching staff, in front of one of the most passionate fanbases in hockey, is something I’m truly grateful for, and I can’t wait to get started.”
As first hires go, this is a very good one for Sturm with the B’s landing an assistant coach that’s worked in the league for the last dozen years consistently on playoff teams, and one that will bring high intensity experience to a bench with a first time NHL head coach and a couple of assistants in Chris Kelly and Jay Leach with only a handful of years on NHL bench experience themselves.
“I’m thrilled to add Steve Spott to our coaching staff, and also welcome him, his wife Lisa and their children, Tyler and Emma, to Boston,” said Sturm. “Steve is a passionate teacher, a strong communicator, and brings great structure and detail to everything he does. His experience, especially on special teams, will be a major asset for our group and for the Bruins moving forward.”
One area where Spott will need to make some hard, early decisions is on the point where Mason Lohrei did a solid job while leading the Bruins with 15 PP assists last season and helped the B’s second PP unit rival the top unit in terms of production and execution last season. Lohrei wasn’t quite as consistent when given reps as point QB with the top PP unit last year – a spot traditionally held by Charlie McAvoy in the past – but clearly has the offensive skills and instincts to be a productive power play performer as he develops at the NHL level.
The Bruins have been looking for a true power play quarterback to run point since Torey Krug left for the St. Louis Blues in free agency and finding that player could go a long way toward bringing the B’s man advantage back to respectability under Spott.
Between that and continuing to rekindle Elias Lindholm’s confidence at the bumper spot on the PP, there are some pretty clear marching orders for Spott as he looks to revive a sputtering Bruins power play.
ONE TIMERS
• It’s been amazing to watch the pictures and videos of Brad Marchand and the Florida Panthers celebrating their Stanley Cup victory in Ft. Lauderdale at the Elbo Room and other iconic southern Florida locales.
The one that probably sparks the most nostalgia for this humble hockey writer is the video of Marchand being dragged away from a bar in the wee hours of the morning by Sasha Barkov wearing his Finnish national jersey.
leaving the rainforest cafe but then the thunderstorm starts pic.twitter.com/iiPJsYG6ve
— Conor Ryan (@ConorRyan_93) June 20, 2025
It speaks to the 37-year-old Marchand going a long 14 years between Stanley Cup victories, but it also brings back memories of how the Little Ball of Hate partied extremely hard after the B’s won it in 2011. In fact, it was about this point 11 years ago when veteran leader Shawn Thornton allegedly got on the phone with Marchand and Tyler Seguin and told both youngsters that it was time to head home after tearing up the city for about week straight with photo evidence all over the Internet documenting their revelry.
Highly doubtful Thornton will be doing that again this time as one of the members of Florida’s front office acting as a liaison between the hockey and business side for the Panthers, and almost certainly one of the reasons Marchand wanted to go to Florida along with former B’s teammate Gregory Campbell working with the Panthers as well.
• Speaking of Marchand, the 37-year-old came up just shy of the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoff MVP after posting 10 goals and 20 points in 23 playoff games while scoring some huge goals during the Stanley Cup Final. Sam Bennett, of course, deserved the playoff hardware after his own iconic postseason performance that included one incredible shift of power, physicality and offense that youth hockey players should be studying for years.
HELL OF A SHIFT BY SAM BENNETT pic.twitter.com/YdNhHYCMjH
— Nasty Knuckles (@NastyKnuckles) June 10, 2025
But capturing a second Stanley Cup with the postseason that he posted all but assures that Marchand is going to end up a Hockey Hall of Famer someday down the road when he retires from the NHL. That stands to be three or four years down the road at this point as he most assuredly could sign in free agency for the three-year deal for $7.5 million per season that the Bruins wouldn’t give him last year, or even sign a 3-4 year deal at a reduced rate to stick around the Panthers where they presumably could have the cap space to retain Bennett, Marchand and Aaron Ekblad if all three veterans take a discount to keep the Florida train rolling for a few more seasons.
That’s potentially good news for Florida and bad news for everybody else in the Atlantic Division that’s been forced to bend the knee to the Panthers over the last three seasons.
