Breaking: Bruins hire former NHLer to join coaching staff

Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney announced this morning that the team has promoted its AHL head coach Kevin Dean to the assistant coach position in Boston. Dean, a former player with over 300 NHL games experience, led the Providence Bruins to a 43-23-10 record in 2016-17 and has been a long-time assistant to Bruins head coach Bruce Cassidy.

In a prepared statement Dean expressed his excitement at the opportunity:

"First and foremost I'd like to thank the Jacobs family, Cam and Don for affording me this tremendous opportunity. Last year with Providence was a big step forward for me professionally and I am very excited to carry that momentum to the NHL level and work with the best players in the world, " said Dean. "I am also thrilled to work alongside Bruce, Jay, Joe and Bob and build off of the team's strong 2016-17 campaign."

Bruce, of course, is Bruce Cassidy, whereas Joe, Jay and Bob are fellow assistant coaches Joe Sacco, Jay Pandolfo and goaltending coach Bob Essensa. Now that the Bruins coaching staff is fully in place, the team can begin preparations for a pivotal 2017-18 campaign. While the B’s returned to the Stanley Cup playoffs in 2016-17 for the first time in years, there’s no guarantee that they’ll be as fortunate in 2017-18. The real work begins now.