Jim Montgomery on the hot seat following recent report? Surprising development

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Joshua Deeds
October 17, 2024 (9:01)

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The Boston Bruins have had a dismal 2-2-0 start to the 2024-2025 NHL season and needless to say, it's not looking good for Jim Montgomery.

This is the same coach who helped lead the team to a President's Trophy in 2022-2023, and the system which berthed Linus Ullmark's Vezina Trophy.

Since then, the Bruins have been unable to conquer a pack of cats, as the Panthers have the Bruins systems down to a science, they effortlessly tear apart the B's in every game.

«Way more concerning, especially this early in the year,» Montgomery told reporters following Bruins practice at Warrior Ice Arena on Tuesday, per team-provided video. «You're going to have times in the season where you're going to go 3-6-1 in 10 games. Last year we went through it, our bad part was early December right before Christmas, and you've got to find ways to get out of it.»

Montgomery called out his best players after their recent losses:

Jim Montgomery called out his best players for not «doing their role,» and after practice on Tuesday, the message was even more clear that the team's battle levels were a bigger issue than new linemates building chemistry early in the season.

This means that David Pastrnak, Brad Marchand, Charlie McAvoy, and Elias Lindholm are doing what the Bruins are paying them for.

Or is his call-out simply a byproduct of his failures to make this newest iteration of the Bruins a team? There's something to be said about a team that performs poorly, and players who aren't building chemistry like they should.

Or is it simply Montgomery's magic wearing off with the team?

Montgomery continued: «But right now, it's the effort level, the consistency of our effort level over chemistry, that is hurting, and that really affects execution.»

How can you have consistent effort without forward and defensive units building chemistry, isn't that putting the cart before the horse?

Honestly, the last coach who used the line blender before units could build chemistry was John Tortorella near the end of his tenure in Columbus. Needless to say, it didn't work well.

David Pastrnak shares his frustration:

«The only frustration is probably that we know we are a much better team than we showed so far,» Pastrnak said, per team-provided video. «So, that's definitely frustrating, because we know we can do much better. I would say healthy frustration, just because we know we can be much better than what we showed.

«It starts with the details. You don't look for the home run. Starts with the battles. Starts with the details. Make sure the compete level is there, and you're winning battles, and the rest will come usually. We haven't played great hockey yet. We're still in a pretty good spot. We got two wins. Is it deserved or not? It doesn't matter. We got two wins. It's hard to win in this league. So, we just have to make sure we keep getting better every game. It wasn't an easy schedule. We got the Stanley Cup champions twice in the first four games.»

The Bruins will need to improve upon their 2-2-0 record, especially if he's to keep the team competitive throughout the regular season.

While the team has improved now that Elias Lindholm, Nikita Zadarov, and Jeremy Swayman have signed, it can be construed to be a team only good on paper while they have a .500 start to the season.

There are still holes in the top six which even Don Sweeney admitted to the team not being a final product.

But that being said, Montgomery did deliver a great season in 2023-2024 with a battered and bruised roster before.

It'll be difficult to tell where the team goes from here, but Pastrnak, Marchand, and Swayman need to fill the gaps in to make sure there's some reliable production on ice, rather than depending upon Mark Kastelic, John Beecher, and other fourth-liners to make an impact.

Jim Montgomery has his hands full with a new Bruins squad, and his inability to build a new foundation with these pieces is troubling.