Whereas it’s Sturm’s first time as an NHL head coach, the previous Bruins winger has constructed up a strong resume over the past decade. He was appointed the top coach of Germany’s males’s nationwide crew for the 2015-16 cycle and held that position for 3 seasons, together with a silver medal on the 2018 Winter Olympics.
That Olympic medal put him on the map for NHL golf equipment. He joined the Kings group the next season, remaining there till Thursday’s hiring. He spent 4 years as an assistant on the NHL bench beneath John Stevens, Willie Desjardins and Todd McLellan earlier than heading to Ontario to supervise its high growth affiliate in 2022.
Throughout his time there, the 46-year-old helped the Reign make the Calder Cup playoffs in every of his three seasons behind the bench and posted a 119-80-11-6 regular-season file.
Sturm was one of many first names linked to Boston’s emptiness in early Might, and it was clear he had emerged because the front-runner a few weeks in the past.
It seemingly took longer than the Bruins hoped to make the hiring official — they had been the final crew standing with out a everlasting head coach after the Penguins hired Dan Muse Wednesday — however in the long run, they get their man.
Common supervisor Don Sweeney had the next statement on Sturm, who’s the thirtieth head coach in franchise historical past:
“All through this course of, our objective was to determine a coach who might uphold our robust defensive basis whereas serving to us evolve offensively. We had been additionally searching for a communicator and chief – somebody who connects with gamers, develops younger expertise, and earns the respect of the room. Marco impressed us at each step along with his preparation, readability, and keenness. His path – enjoying for a number of NHL groups, teaching internationally, and main at each the AHL and NHL ranges – has formed a well-rounded coach who’s earned this chance. As a former Bruin, he understands what this crew means to the town and our followers. We’re embracing a brand new course with Marco behind the bench and are assured his power, requirements, and dedication to a aggressive, hard-nosed model of hockey replicate precisely what Bruins hockey ought to be.”
As Sweeney stated, this isn’t Sturm’s first go-around in Beantown. He was a part of one of the notable trades in league historical past, heading to Boston from San Jose when the Bruins traded Joe Thornton to San Jose halfway via his Hart Trophy-winning 2005-06 marketing campaign.
Sturm, who had already been within the league for eight years and was already one of the best German-born participant the league had ever seen, was a very good top-six piece for Boston over the following 5 years however had a steep decline on the finish of his tenure, fueled by a left knee surgical procedure in 2009 that hampered his manufacturing for the remainder of his profession.
Sturm scored 242 targets and 487 factors in 938 NHL video games over his 14-year enjoying profession, nonetheless putting him second all-time in scoring amongst German NHLers behind Leon Draisaitl. 106 of these targets and 198 of these factors got here in Boston over a 302-game span.
He’ll now be tasked with injecting the speedy, two-way type he flashed as a participant into the Bruins’ retooling roster. The membership has made elevated scoring its acknowledged precedence for 2025-26 after being restricted to 2.71 targets per recreation this 12 months, sixth worst within the league. He’ll seemingly want some assist from Sweeney this summer time to present him greater than two 20-goal scorers from 2024-25 (Morgan Geekie, David Pastrnak) to make it occur.
Different names who reportedly made it deep within the course of for the Bruins’ gig had been assistant Jay Leach and ex-Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft. It’s unclear if Leach will stay on Sturm’s workers as an AC. Former assistant Joe Sacco, who spent most of this 12 months as interim head coach following Boston’s firing of Jim Montgomery in November, is not expected to return to the organization.
