Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney has his future dependent on massive off-season decision

For the second time in three summers, Boston Bruins GM Don Sweeney needs to hire another head coach for his team. That's right, another head coach under his tenure of the Boston Bruins, something not too many GMs continue to get another chance with.

However, when you're Sweeney and you have the backing of CEO Charlie Jacobs and president Cam Neely, you get multiple chances to fix your mistakes. To be fair, the last two guys he fired, Jim Montgomery and Bruce Cassidy, in the last three year,s both have latched on to Western Conference teams that are currently in the Stanley Cup Playoffs, and both of those coaches led the Black and Gold to the postseason multiple times in their tenure. Go figure.

Bruins GM Don Sweeney discuss what he's looking for in his next coach

As Sweeney begins the search for his next coach, he has said what he's looking for in that bench boss. He is looking for someone with familiarity with the NHL, although they don't need to have NHL head coaching experience.

"Does it have to include NHL experience on a head coaching level?" Sweeney said. "No, it should include some form of NHL exposure. But if somebody blows you away, they blow you away. I don't think I'm going to narrow it down to just (that). I think that's an (injustice) to the process.

"The person who comes into this door is going to have success. We're going to set them up for that. We're going to work with them with that. But having NHL experience is part of that. They don't have to be currently an NHL coach, but exposure to the League is important."

So, what does all of that mean? It means that it leaves the door open for Sweeney to expand his candidates. Unfortunately, that likely takes the University of Denver coach, David Carle, out of the running, but you get the feeling that someone who may have just lost their job might be in the mix. Sweeney also left the door open for coaches who are still alive in the playoffs to be in the mix as well. When all is said and done, Boston's GM just needs someone in place before the NHL Entry Draft begins in late June and free agency begins on July 1.

It'll be interesting to see how it ends up playing out, but this is a hiring that Sweeney needs to nail as it could be his last chance to get it right.