The Bruins are reportedly reaching the final stages of their exhaustive search for a new head coach. According to The Athletic’s Fluto Shinzawa, Marco Sturm and Mitch Love are finalists for Boston’s head-coaching vacancy, with the duo expected to interview in person this week with the Original Six franchise. “That Love and Sturm have advanced to in-person interviews signals how the Bruins are thinking about the position,” Shinzawa wrote. “Neither has NHL head coaching experience. Sturm was a finalist last year with the Sharks, who hired Ryan Warsofsky. Love may be under consideration by the Pittsburgh Penguins and Seattle Kraken, the other clubs with vacancies.” Sturm and Love are not the only coaches reportedly in the final running to take over in Boston. According to David Pagnotta of The Fourth Period, former Oilers head coach Jay Woodcroft is also among the “remaining contenders” for the Bruins job. “Woodcroft had his latest follow-up interview the other day,” Pagnotta added on X Tuesday afternoon. Sturm, 46, already has plenty of ties to Boston, although his coaching journey has primarily been paved both overseas and out on the West Coast. Strum played five seasons with the Bruins from 2006-10, scoring 106 goals and 193 points over 302 career games in Boston. The German native put himself on the map as an up-and-coming coach by leading the German national team to a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. Since his international coaching career wrapped, Sturm has spent his time in a variety of roles with the Los Angeles Kings. After serving as an assistant coach in the NHL ranks from 2018-22, Sturm has spent the last three seasons coaching the Kings’ AHL affiliate, the Ontario Reign. He has coached his club to a 119-80-17 record, while helping top prospects like Quinton Byfield and Brandt Clarke develop into impact players. Along with his connections to the Bruins, Sturm has experience coaching in the rigid, defensive system that coaches like Todd McLellan and John Stevens preached during their respective tenures as the Kings’ bench boss. The Bruins could opt for a similar approach under Sturm as they try to regain their form as stout defensive club — although Love offers similar appeal after a two-year run with the Washington Capitals. Love, 40, has primarily worked with Washington’s defensemen over the last two years on Spencer Carbery’s staff. The Capitals were one of the top defensive teams in the NHL this past year (2.79 goals against per game), while multiple blue liners like Jakob Chychrun, Rasmus Sandin, and Martin Fehérváry all had breakout seasons in 2024-25. Before his arrival in Washington, Love was head coach of the Calgary Flames’ AHL franchise from 2021-23, with both the Stockton Heat and Calgary Wranglers sporting a combined record of 96-33-9-3 over that stretch. Love — who helped develop players like Dustin Wolf and Connor Zary in Calgary’s system — took home the Louis A. R. Pieri Memorial Award (given to the most outstanding AHL coach) in back-to-back seasons with Stockton and Calgary. Woodcroft, 48, last served as head coach of the Edmonton Oilers across three seasons from 2022-24. Taking over as interim head coach in 2022, Woodcroft led Edmonton to the Western Conference Finals that season before losing to the eventual Stanley Cup champion Avalanche in that round. During his lone full season as Edmonton’s head coach in 2022-23, Woodcroft coached the Oilers to a 50-23-9 record (109 points) and won a round before losing to another eventual Stanley Cup champion in the Vegas Golden Knights. Woodcroft was fired by the Oilers in November 2023 after a sluggish start (3-9-1) to the new season. Before being handed the reins in Edmonton, Woodcroft was head coach of Edmonton’s AHL affiliate, the Bakersfield Condors, from 2018-22. He was an assistant on the Oilers’ staff from 2015-18. Woodcroft also had plenty of experience prior to his time with the Oilers organization, spending seven years as an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks from 2008-15.