Sweeney added that he felt like a “sluggish” group during training camp and even considered the theory that some players stalled too much during the summer after a strong 2023-24 season.
No Bruins player has more than 10 points since the start of the campaign, with the exception of David Pastrnak (17) and Marchand (13).
Charlie Coyle (60 points in 2023-24), Pavel Zacha (59), Trent Frederic (40) and Morgan Geekie (39) are all experiencing a decline after a successful 2023-24 campaign.
Pastrnak, who has collected at least 110 points in each of his last two seasons, will finish the current campaign with 70 points if he maintains the same pace.
“We just didn’t do our job and we didn’t play up to the standards we need to achieve,” summarized Marchand. The standard standards that we have become accustomed to, that management has become accustomed to, and that the fans have become accustomed to and deserve.
“If we’re not playing up to expectations, and at the level that we know we can perform at, it’s not like those expectations are out of reach, it’s just that we haven’t played yet up to our capabilities. These are things that happen unfortunately, and people have to pay the price, and that’s what happened. »
In net, Jeremy Swayman is 5-7-2 with a 3.47 goals-against average and a .884 save percentage. While still a restricted free agent, he missed all of training camp before agreeing to an eight-year contract worth $66 million on October 6. The Bruins previously traded goaltender Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators on June 24.
Montgomery was hired as coach of the Bruins on July 1, 2022, and he led the team to the best season in NHL history (65-12-5) in his first campaign behind the bench. The Bruins had 135 points and a .823 points percentage, both NHL records. Montgomery won the Jack Adams Trophy that season as the best coach on the circuit. However, the Bruins were eliminated in seven games in the first round of the playoffs by the Florida Panthers after taking a 3-1 lead in the series.
Last season, the Bruins saw their season end in the second round of the spring tournament, once again against the Panthers, who would later go on to hoist the Stanley Cup.
Montgomery, who also led the Dallas Stars for 114 games during the 2018-19 and 2019-20 seasons, was entering the final year of his contract with the Bruins.
Sweeney said he discussed a contract extension with Montgomery, but the two “couldn’t come to an agreement based on what we were willing to offer.”
Montgomery’s interim replacement, Joe Sacco, will lead an NHL team for the first time in 11 years.
The 55-year-old held the role of assistant, then associate, with the Bruins for around ten years. He previously coached the Colorado Avalanche from 2009 to 2013. On his first outing in his new role, Sacco described 24 hours as “bittersweet.”
“I’ll be honest: I’m excited about the opportunity that’s in front of me. It’s a great challenge, he admitted. The Bruins are one of the original six franchises. It was important for me to come back into a head coaching position. The circumstances to achieve this are not always happy, but I have been waiting for this opportunity for a long time. It was a bittersweet day. »
The first item on the agenda for Sacco, who will coach a first game with the Bruins on Thursday when Boston hosts a visit from the Utah Hockey Club (7 p.m. ET; Utah16, NESN, SNO, TVAS), will be to extract the best from its star players who are generally performing below expectations.
“We have to be more difficult to face,” Sacco summed up. I want other teams to know that it will be difficult to score goals against us again. Our offense is going to come back, we’re banking on enough players who can score goals, and I think too much of our focus has been on that. We mainly have to make sure we keep the puck out of our goal, and play in a way that makes us difficult to play against. I am convinced that this group will score goals. »
