Bruins Make Addition To Coaching Staff

The Boston Bruins went outside the organization to find their newest addition to head coach Marco Sturm‘s staff, with AHL San Diego head coach Matt McIlvane officially hired by the Bruins on Thursday.

“I am humbled and honored to join the Boston Bruins organization,” McIlvane said in a team-provided statement following his hiring. “I’m grateful for the opportunity to work with Marco and the rest of the staff, and I look forward to helping our players and team in any way I can.”

McIlvane’s addition to Boston’s staff comes just a few weeks after the Bruins and Jay Leach parted ways after two seasons as an assistant on the Black and Gold’s NHL staff. (Leach has since landed with AHL Hartford as the Wolf Pack’s new head coach.)

In San Diego for the last three seasons, the 40-year-old McIlvane compiled an 88-97-31 record behind the San Diego bench, and last season helped guide the Gulls to their first playoff appearance since 2022. Prior to his time with the Ducks’ AHL affiliate, McIlvane won a championship as Salzburg EC’s head coach in Austria in 2022-23, and had assistant coaching stints with USHL Chicago and ECHL Orlando. 

And though their paths had not crossed on the same staff at the pro level (though Sturm and McIlvane would go head-to-head quite regularly during Sturm’s time in Ontario), McIlvane and Sturm do have a prior relationship. And it’s about as strong as it could get, too, as McIlvane served as an assistant on Sturm’s staff on the upstart 2018 German Olympic team that shocked the hockey world with a silver medal.

“We are excited to welcome Matt, his wife Megan, and their children Mason and Mila to Boston,” Sturm said in a statement confirming McIlvane’s addition. “I’ve had the privilege of working with Matt through the German National Team, and I’ve come to know him as an outstanding coach and person. He is an excellent teacher and communicator who has done a great job developing players throughout his coaching career.”

In addition to his connection with Sturm, what’s also interesting about McIlvane is that he has zero prior connection to the Bruins in any fashion. He was a 2004 draft pick of the Senators, and his pro career never took him to either Boston or Providence, or even any of the B’s ECHL affiliates over the years. He is a true ‘outside’ hire for the organization, much like Steve Spott was a year ago.

As for McIlvane’s responsibilities, Leach ran the defense and penalty kill during his time in Boston, making it fair to assume that McIlvane will take on those same duties for Boston.

Last year in the AHL, McIlvane’s Gulls had the AHL’s eighth-best penalty kill (83.5 percent), while the Gulls were one of three AHL teams to have multiple double-digit goal scorers on the backend. That last note is intriguing if only because the Bruins are seemingly always looking for more goal scoring from their defensemen.

McIlvane’s reported addition is expected to be the lone move on Boston’s coaching staff this summer, with Chris Kelly and the aforementioned Spott, along with goalie coach Bob Essensa, all announced to be returning to Sturm’s staff for the 2026-27 season.