Sources: Tocchet Shyed Away From Bruins Because Of Sweeney

Rick Tocchet (Photo by Minas Panagiotakis/Getty Images)

While it’s not surprising that Rick Tocchet became the new head coach of the Philadelphia Flyers this past week, it’s notable why he apparently wouldn’t seriously consider becoming the next head coach of the Boston Bruins.

According to two sources close to Tocchet, the fact that Bruins general manager Don Sweeney is entering the final season of his contract had Tocchet worried.

“His concern with Boston was that the GM maybe has 1-2 years left,” the source told RG.

A day later, another source close to Tocchet told RG essentially the same thing and referenced the fact that Sweeney has not only fired three head coaches—two in the last three years—during his ten-year tenure as Bruins GM, but also how good those coaches were at their jobs.

“He was concerned for two reasons,” the other NHL source close to Tocchet told RG. “Sweeney’s status and Sweeney’s track record with his head coaches.”

Sweeney is entering the final season of his contract, and in the Bruins’ end-of-season Hockey Operations press conference on April 23, Bruins team president Cam Neely was complimentary of Sweeney but non-committal about signing him to an extension before the 2025–26 NHL regular season begins next October.

Bruins’ Coaching Carousel

“I’ve given it a lot of thought; I’m still contemplating what the best course of action is,” Neely said in the presser with Sweeney and Bruins CEO and Alternate Governor Charlie Jacobs.

“But as I mentioned, I feel like Don has done a good job here for the most part.

He and his staff have been very collaborative. I like it when I sit in their meetings, how collaborative they are. The year that we had is a huge disappointment, and that falls on all of us—not just Don, that falls on all of us. I’ll figure that out in the near future, with that particular question, whether we’re going to re-sign Don or not, but he’s got another year left. Again, it takes two to tango.”

It should also be noted that in the latest 32 Thoughts Podcast, Sportsnet NHL Insider Elliotte Friedman reported that the Bruins had, as of this past Thursday, interviewed up to 15 candidates for their open coaching post. According to the two aforementioned sources, Tocchet and new (and former Bruins head coach) New York Rangers head coach Mike Sullivan weren’t among them.

Since being hired as general manager of the Boston Bruins in May 2015, Sweeney has fired three head coaches (all three won the Jack Adams Award), with two of those firings coming since May 2022. To his credit, Sweeney gave 2011 Stanley Cup winner and 2009 Jack Adams Award winner Claude Julien a chance to remain the Bruins’ head coach for a full season when Sweeney inherited Julien for the 2015–16 season. However, after Julien and the Bruins missed the Stanley Cup playoffs for a second-straight season, Sweeney fired Julien and replaced him with then-assistant coach Bruce Cassidy in February 2017.

Cassidy led the Bruins to Game 6 of the opening round of the 2017 Stanley Cup Playoffs and then to the playoffs in each of the next five seasons, including Game 7 of the 2019 Stanley Cup Final. Despite assurances his job was safe, Cassidy was fired after the 2021–22 season. Like Julien did in 2009, Cassidy won the Jack Adams Award in 2020.

After firing Cassidy in June 2022, Sweeney hired Jim Montgomery. Montgomery coached the Bruins to the best regular-season record (65-12-5, 135 points) ever and won the 2023 Jack Adams Award. However, he and the Bruins were upset by the Florida Panthers in a seven-game opening-round series. The Panthers bounced the Bruins again in the second round (six games) of the 2024 Stanley Cup Playoffs. Last offseason, the Bruins and Montgomery could not find common ground on a new contract. 

One source told RG that Montgomery originally asked for a five-year, $20 million contract, and when the Bruins said they wouldn’t go past three years, he asked for a two-year, $10 million contract. According to this source, the best the Bruins offered was a three-year, $9 million contract.

Sweeney Defends Bruins’ Legacy

After a slow start to the 2024–25 season, Montgomery was fired this past November, and longtime assistant coach Joe Sacco was hired as interim head coach. The Bruins continued to slide, and after Sweeney blew the roster up at the 2025 NHL Trade Deadline, they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2016.

In the end-of-season press conference, Sweeney was asked if he was worried that firing two coaches in the last three years—and three since 2017—might scare off coaching candidates to fill their current vacancy.

“I’ll call you up and let you know if somebody turns it down, the invitation to interview for one of the most historic jobs in the National Hockey League,” Sweeney replied sarcastically.

After explaining how Neely and Charlie Jacobs are part of the coach hiring process, Sweeney went on to claim that the prestige of an Original 6 franchise, like the Bruins, that has been around for over 100 years, is the main attraction and selling point for the team’s coaching vacancy—not Sweeney or his job status.

“He will be entrusted to understand organizationally, they have the full support when we make a decision that they’ll be in place and with the expectations that we are going to be a highly competitive team again, with the expectations to win. Whether that’s next year, the following year, or the year after, it’s going to remain in place. So, this is not, we took a step back with a deadline, and now we’re going to take our steps forward, and a coach is going to understand that, and he’s going to love being part of the Boston Bruins organization, regardless of whether or not he’s working with Don Sweeney.”