The Boston Bruins can check one thing off their summer to-do list, as the franchise is hiring San Diego Gulls Head Coach Matt McIlvane to their NHL coaching staff, sources tell The Hockey News.
McIlvane, 40, served as the head coach of the Gulls, the Anaheim Ducks' AHL affiliate, the past three seasons.
Boston's newest assistant coach fills the vacancy left behind by the departure of Jay Leach, who left and became the head coach of the Hartford Wolfpack.
Prior to that, McIlvane coached in Europe, mainly in Germany and Austria from 2013-14 until 2022-23.
Most notably, McIlvane served as an assistant coach for Team Germany at the 2018 Winter Olympics.
Germany won the Silver Medal at those Olympics, their best-ever finish and third-ever medal at any ice hockey Olympic Games.
Germany's head coach for that Olympic tournament?
None other than current Bruins head coach, Marco Sturm.
Sturm also served as Germany's GM, and handpicked McIlvane to be his assistant coach for the tournament, a decision helping lead to a Silver Medal.
The pair reunites in Boston, eight years after those 2018 Olympic Games, now looking for more silver hardware. This time, the silver hardware is the main prize, the Stanley Cup.