Marco Sturm Named Bruins HC Ahead of 2025 NHL Free Agency, Draft

Marco Sturm has been named the new head coach of the Boston Bruins.

The Bruins announced his hiring as the franchise's 30th head coach on Thursday.

The 46-year-old will replace Jim Montgomery, who was fired in November following the Bruins' 8-9-3 start to the season.

Joe Sacco was named Montgomery's replacement on an interim basis. TSN's Pierre LeBrun reported at the time that the Bruins would "give him a real look before reaching out to any other candidates."

Montgomery went on to lead the St. Louis Blues to a playoff berth, while Sacco was unable to take Boston back into postseason contention.

The Bruins, which marked a 25-30-7 record under Sacco's tenure, ultimately traded captain Brad Marchand at the deadline before finishing the season at the bottom of the Eastern Conference.

Sturm will now be tasked with leading Boston to playoff success after Montgomery drove the franchise to historic regular-season achievements but no Eastern Conference Final appearances.

The Bruins became the first NHL team to reach 65 wins during Montgomery's first season as head coach in 2022-23. He went on to finish his Boston career with a .715 points percentage and two playoff appearances.

But both of those postseason runs ended early. The Bruins capped off their historic 65-win season with a seven-game first-round loss to the Florida Panthers.

The following season the Panthers eliminated the Bruins again, this time in six games in the second round, dashing their championship hopes and putting Montgomery on the hot seat despite his stellar regular-season record.

The Athletic's Fluto Shinzawa previously reported Sturm and Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love were the two finalists for Boston's head coaching vacancy.

This marks Sturm's first head coaching job, although not his first time with the Bruins. During his 14-year NHL playing career, he was part of the organization from 2005 to 2010.

Sturm previously coached the Germany national team to a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. He gained assistant NHL coaching experience with the Los Angeles Kings from 2018 to 2022.

Most recently, he has served as head coach of the Kings' AHL affiliate. The Reign hold a 119-80-17 record through three seasons under his tenure.

Sturm will be one of the youngest head coaches in the NHL. He will now be tasked with helping develop the franchise's top prospects, including the incoming No. 7 pick of the 2025 NHL draft, while leading the Bruins back toward playoff contention.