- David Pagnotta reports the Bruins won’t renew assistant coach Jay Leach’s contract this summer
- Leach ran Boston’s defense and penalty kill under Marco Sturm the last two seasons
- Read below for why the Toronto Maple Leafs could come calling on the 46-year-old
Jay Leach is on the way out in Boston.
David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period reported Thursday that the Bruins will not renew assistant coach Jay Leach’s contract when it expires this summer. Pagnotta said he was told the deal is done.
The 46-year-old ran Boston’s defense the last two seasons and also handled the penalty kill. He worked under Jim Montgomery, then Joe Sacco after Montgomery was fired in 2024-25, and most recently under first-year head coach Marco Sturm.
Boston finished 14th in the NHL at 3.01 goals allowed per game this season before getting bounced by Buffalo in six games in the first round. A new voice on the back end was probably overdue.
Leach was a finalist for the head coaching job that went to Sturm last summer. He spent four seasons running the AHL’s Providence Bruins, then three more on Dave Hakstol’s staff with the Seattle Kraken before returning to Boston in 2024.
Daily Faceoff’s Matt Larkin already has Leach on his tiered list of candidates for the Toronto Maple Leafs opening. The Leafs are working through their own search after parting with Craig Berube, and a defense-first guy with NHL experience checks plenty of boxes for a team that just got bounced in the second round again.
He’s also from the Greater Toronto area, which won’t hurt his case.
Sturm’s staff likely isn’t set in stone either. He brought Steve Spott with him last summer, and after the season Boston just had, more turnover is coming.
