Bruins’ Jim Montgomery Reveals His Wish List For Roster Improvements

The Boston Bruins have had very successful regular seasons over the past two years but have fallen short of their ultimate goal — winning the Stanley Cup.

With more than $21 million in cap space entering free agency, the Bruins can be aggressive in retooling the roster for the 2024-25 season.

Bruins head coach Jim Montgomery doesn’t have much say in which free agents general manager Don Sweeney will try and sign in Boston, but the bench boss did reveal where he hopes the roster will improve when he joined the “NHL Wraparound Podcast.”

“Those next steps are going to be taken by Don Sweeney and his staff,” Montgomery said. “The fortune thing is, we’re in communication all the time. I understand where he is trying to improve the roster, but it’s so hard to dictate where we’re going to improve. I just have a lot of trust in Don and the incredible amount of work he does and how bright he is. He’s always going to give myself and the coaching staff a great opportunity.

“… Where our roster hopefully improves — hopefully, we get more skill, hopefully, we get more speed, toughness. There’s a lot of elements that a team can always use to improve. I just have a lot of trust in Don Sweeney that he’s gonna do those things.”

Along with the amount of cap space the Bruins have to work with, Montgomery believes the culture in Boston is a key factor for free agents wanting to sign with the Black and Gold.

“When you have leaders that have been here, that wear the Spoked-B, that take such pride in wearing it … Brad Marchand, David Pastrnak, (Charlie) McAvoy, (Charlie) Coyle, Brandon Carlo,” Montgomery explained. “There’s a lot of players that have been here for a long time that really care about the legacy of being a Bruin. I think that gives us a leg up on a lot of teams because there’s a tremendous amount of pride.”