It was most likely a essential transfer given their underwhelming begin (8-9-3 via 20 video games) and constant regression from his first 12 months with the crew in 2021-22. Particularly given how poorly the crew has performed over the previous week, with Monday’s 5-1 loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets being an particularly unhealthy efficiency.
Even whether it is essential, it’s removed from a remedy all for the Bruins. Neither is Montgomery most likely the individual in want of being made the scapegoat for the crew’s struggles.
That ought to fall on normal supervisor Don Sweeney, who has not solely assembled the flawed roster that isn’t successful, however has additionally gone via a number of head coaches throughout his tenure because the crew’s normal supervisor.
With Tuesday’s firing of Montgomery, Sweeney has already fired three head coaches in his eight years because the crew’s GM, having beforehand fired Claude Julien and Bruce Cassidy, who went on to win the Stanley Cup one 12 months later with the Vegas Golden Knights.
If a crew is able the place it has to make that many teaching modifications in that wanting a time period, with the identical normal supervisor operating the present, it may be time to begin asking questions concerning the job that GM is doing. Particularly when that GM has not received a championship and is greater than 5 years faraway from his solely Stanley Cup Ultimate look.
On one hand, the Bruins have been an objectively good crew throughout that point. They’ve made the playoffs eight years in a row and in Montgomery’s first 12 months tied an NHL document with 65 common season wins, with an underwhelming first-round exit from the playoffs. They adopted that up with 51 wins a 12 months in the past.
Loads of groups would take that kind of success.
The place the success has stopped has been within the playoffs, particularly the previous three seasons the place they’ve received only a single playoff spherical.
Whereas the general document has been high-quality, there are extreme flaws with the roster that Sweeney has not adequately addressed, whereas additionally creating extra. There was a component of smoke-and-mirrors to a number of the current success.
The retirement of Patrice Bergeron a few years in the past left the Bruins with out a true No. 1 middle that would make an impression. He tried to fill that gap this offseason by signing Elias Lindholm to an enormous seven-year, $54M contract. Whereas Lindholm is an effective participant, he’s simply one other model of what they already had at middle in Pavel Zacha and Charlie Coyle — participant that isn’t going to be “the man” on a contending crew.
The Bruins’ historically robust protection has additionally taken an enormous hit lately and develop into far too reliant on goaltending to bail the crew out. Sweeney added to that downside in free company by overpaying for Nikita Zadorov, after which being compelled to commerce half of his elite goalie duo when he despatched Linus Ullmark to the Ottawa Senators (a division rival) attributable to wage cap constraints.
Wage cap constraints he helped trigger.
He adopted that by enjoying hardball with the opposite goalie, Jeremy Swayman, in restricted free company contract negotiations leading to him lacking coaching camp and the preseason. Swayman is now off to the worst begin of his profession and is not masking the defensive flaws.
Sweeney’s roster is flawed. He’s now on his fourth totally different head coach that has taken the autumn for not producing the outcomes he needs. Sooner or later Bruins possession wants to vary its focus from the pinnacle coach to the person who retains hiring (and firing) the pinnacle coaches and has constructed the flawed roster.
