According to one hockey insider, yes.
On Thursday, Dave Pagnotta has this to say on X (formerly Twitter): As I mentioned on the DFO Rundown Insider Edition today, the #NHLBruins will be parting ways with assistant coach Jay Leach, whose contract is up and I’m told won’t be renewed.
As of Friday morning, there’s been no announcement from the Bruins, and Leach remains listed on the team’s official website.
The Bruins’ blue line has ridden a roller coaster — and mostly on the descent — since he stepped into the picture in 2024‑25. The chart below tracks the performance of the defense corps as a whole from 2022-23 season through this one, and the trend lines tell the story.
I get it — the 2022‑23 Bruins were a juggernaut in every sense, and parsing how much of that defensive success came from the team’s overall structure versus the blue line itself contributing to the overall team is a debate for another day.
The system itself is the responsibility of head coach Marco Sturm to implement. The job of making sure the defensemen understand it — and actually execute it — falls to Leach. So, can you pin this on the system? I don’t think that holds up. The Bruins ran the same structure in 2023‑24 and again in 2024‑25. Sturm has adjusted things this season, but we’re now looking at a two‑year slide on the back end.
During the 2023‑24 season, Mason Lohrei looked every bit like a young defenseman on the rise — especially in the playoffs, where his poise and upside really started to show. But the following year, under the very same system, his game unraveled. And while there were marginal improvements this season, that early promise has largely evaporated. Some of that is on the player, no question. But coaching has to be part of the conversation too.
And to be clear, this isn’t a new stance for me — I’ve been calling for the Bruins to move on from Leach since the end of the 2024‑25 season.
If the report proves accurate, the immediate instinct will be to elevate Providence head coach Ryan Mougenel into Leach’s former role. But in my view, this is the moment to look outside the organization. They need a fresh voice — someone with a track record of developing young defensemen, teaching structure, and understanding the nuances of the position. It’s the same logic that led them to bring in Steve Spott, and it applies just as strongly now.
One name jumped out immediately when I started thinking about options outside the organization — the same coach who stepped in to replace Spott after his OHL run with the Kitchener Rangers:
Current head coach of the Brantford Bulldogs Jay McKee.
McKee logged 802 NHL games as a shutdown defender, but his coaching resume shows he’s adapted seamlessly to the modern game. He’s been highly effective at developing defensemen to play today’s version of the position — mobile, efficient, and detail‑driven — despite his own reputation as a stay‑at‑home blueliner.
McKee has a strong track record when it comes to developing young players, and his approach would mesh well with what Sturm is trying to build. Defensively, he emphasizes tight gaps, proper stick positioning, absorbing contact to make a play, blocking shots, and winning interior battles — teaching his players that the body comes first and the puck comes second. In other words, he instills the full toolkit of a shutdown defenseman.
What really separates McKee is how he builds his breakouts through his defensemen. His structure puts real stress on opposing forechecks because it’s built on quick, purposeful puck movement into designated areas — and on the trust that every player will be exactly where the system requires him to be.
And let’s be honest: breakouts and handling pressure on the forecheck have been persistent trouble spots for the Bruins. McKee’s approach directly targets those weaknesses.
It’s unlikely the Bruins give McKee serious consideration, if only because his coaching resume to this point is limited to the OHL. But that lack of pro experience shouldn’t overshadow the quality of the work he’s done.
But it’s exactly the outside the box thinking they should be looking at.
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