Longtime Bruins assistant Joe Sacco elevated to associate coach

General manager Don Sweeney came to Sacco with the idea of taking on the associate’s role soon after the playoffs ended, leaving the ex-BU forward saying he was “flattered and honored” over the promotion.

Montgomery said last month, while in Vegas for the NHL entry draft, that he was happy Sacco had been rewarded with the new gig, calling it formal recognition of Sacco’s overall input and for the good relationship the two have shared during Montgomery’s two years on the job.

“Joe’s really kind of been in that role since I started, we see the game a lot in the same way,” said Montgomery. “Great move.”

The playoffs this spring showed the Bruins in need of a behind-the-bench booster shot. In three of their 13 postseason games, two vs. Toronto and one vs. the Panthers, they were painfully slow in generating shots on net. More urgency needed from puck drop.

By the end of Round 2, which ended with a Game 6 loss (2-1) to the Panthers, the Bruins established an ignominious playoff record, whistled seven times for too many men on the ice. Players and coaches shared in the failed math. A new title for Sacco alone won’t fix the accounting, but in tandem with Leach as presumably a fourth set of eyes behind the bench, it should help prevent some of the annoying “too many” faux pas.

Sacco will enter the season tied with Carolina’s Jeff Daniels with 10 years as an assistant with their respective clubs, the most among active NHL coaches. Sacco, who started here with Julien in 2014-15, is the lone current coach to serve 10 years consecutively with the same team as an assistant or associate. Daniels had nearly a 10-year break in service with the Hurricanes.

Bob Essensa (a.k.a. Goalie Bob) has been on the Black and Gold’s coaching staff the last 17 seasons. Per the NHL stats department, he is not considered in the assistant/associate group because he has been specifically a goaltending coach.

Across the 100–plus years of league history, according to the NHL stats department, only 11 coaches have served the same club for more than 10 consecutive seasons in the assistant/associate role. The leader of the pack: Benoit Allaire, who served the last 19 years as a Ranger assistant (focused mainly on netminding) before announcing early this offseason that he’ll move to a reduced, advisory role in 2024-25. Minnesota assistant Darby Hendrickson, tied for the No. 2 spot with 14 consecutive seasons, was dismissed this spring by the Wild.

When informed by the Globe about his standing on the NHL longevity chart, Sacco was somewhat surprised.

“That’s special to me,” he noted. “Would have never known that.”

What has kept him going, said Sacco, in large part has been liking the work itself and working for a Bruins team that has been consistently in the chase for the Cup, including the 2019 run that fell one win short in the Final vs. St. Louis. Julien, Cassidy and Montgomery he said, all have imparted knowledge that has helped him become better at his job.

Soon after retiring in 2003 from an NHL playing career that spanned 13 seasons and 738 regular-season games, Sacco began his coaching career in 2005-06 with the AHL Lowell Lock Monsters. Four years later, at age 40, he was named head coach of the Colorado Avalanche, a squad that had missed the playoffs in two of the previous three seasons. The Avalanche returned to the playoffs his first year, but did not qualify the next three, leading to his dismissal following the 2012-13 season.

The move up to associate here should make Sacco more marketable for a potential return to a top bench job — a role he said he would welcome, though it’s not his No. 1 priority.

“I’ve always felt like I’d like a second chance,” he said, while making clear his top priority remains winning a Cup, no matter his role. “I’ve looked around at a lot of guys that coached their second time around … they’d had moderate success (the first time), but when they got that second opportunity, they really took off.”

Three cases in point: Cassidy, Mike Sullivan and Craig Berube. All made comebacks off disappointing first runs and all have since won Cups.

“You grow from your experiences as a coach,” Sacco said. “You’re going to be a better coach the second time around. So, yeah, sure, if the opportunity is there, and presents itself and it’s the right situation, I would like to take a crack at it again. But I feel very lucky to be in the position that I am (with the Bruins).”

Tipping point

Retiring Pavelski a master of the deflection

The subject was the art of working the net front on the power play. Specifically, Joe Pavelski’s knack for it.

“You may be talking about the best in the business,” said an admiring Pat Maroon, reflecting on Pavelski’s ability to tip pucks from low in the slot and tough angles around the crease.

Pavelski, who turned 40 on July 11, decided this month to call it a career after totaling 1,333 regular-season games, which was may be 1,333 more than might have been expected when the Sharks made him the 205th pick in the 2003 NHL entry draft.

Pavelski’s retirement was not a surprise. He was hinting heavily that he would not be back when his season in Dallas came to an end, even though he finished second in Stars scoring (27-40–67) and played in all 82 regular-season games. His final line for the final time: 476 goals, 592 assists, and 1,068 points.

His Hall-of-Fame-worthy career will be framed by those points, by his art for deflection, and how he turned out to be one of the greatest “late catches” in the history of the entry draft.

Pavelski is one of only nine players to be selected No. 200 or later in the draft and go on to play 1,000 games or more. Of those nine, only one, Dave Taylor (Kings, No. 210, 1975; 1,111 games), finished with more points (1,069). None of the nine topped Pavelski’s 1,133 games.

The other seven in that 1,000-game category include:

▪ Hal Gill – Boston, No. 207, 1993; 1,108 games

▪ Henrik Zetterberg– Detroit No. 210, 1999; 1,082 games

▪ Radim Vrbata – Colorado, No. 212, 1999; 1,057 games

▪ Mike Grier — St. Louis, No. 219, 1993; 1,060 games

▪ Steve Sullivan — New Jersey, No. 233, 1994; 1,011 games

▪ Kimmo Timonen, Los Angeles, No. 250, 1993; 1,108 games

▪ Tomas Holmstrom, Detroit, No. 257, 1994; 1,026 games.

Montgomery coached Pavelski briefly in Dallas in 2019-20, and was impressed how he constantly worked on his puck-tipping skills. Paveski, he said, worked diligently on his hand-eye coordination off the ice.

Over his time in the league, beginning with the 2006–07 season, Pavelski scored 176 power-play goals, a good many of those on tips and deflections. When he called it quits, only three NHLers scored more PPGs during his tenure: Alex Ovechkin (312), Steven Stamkos (214) and Evgeni Malkin (179). Ovechkin and Stamkos were No. 1 picks. Malkin went No. 2 to Pittsburgh in ‘04, after the Capitals picked Ovechkin.

Waitin’ on Swayman

Plenty of time to sign an extension, right?

Jeremy Swayman remains without a contract, with the opening of the Bruins varsity camp (Sept. 18) some seven weeks on the horizon. Still plenty of time for the 25-year-old stopper to sign an extension.

The sides this month chose not to settle differences via binding salary arbitration, the process Swayman triggered a year ago and was ultimately awarded $3.475 million on a one-year deal. He’s back again, still with restricted free agent status, after establishing himself as the franchise No. 1 in the playoffs and with hug brother Linus Ullmark dealt to the Senators.

Swayman, yet to comment publicly, can’t report to camp without a contract. Per the NHL CBA, restricted free agents have until Dec. 1 to come to terms, or forfeit their ability to play in the league for the remainder of the season. With salary arbitration off the table, 12/1 becomes the pressure point.

The last high-profile RFA to push the deadline was Toronto forward William Nylander, who went to the final hour on Dec. 1, 2018, before signing a six-year extension for $45 million (cap hit: $7.5 million). The cap for 2018-19 season was $79.5 million. It’s 10.9 percent higher ($88 million) for 2024-25.

Nylander has blossomed into an offensive force the past three seasons, collecting an average 1.09 points per game. But his holdout impeded his production in year No. 1 of the deal, when he scored at less than half that rate (54 games/27 points). Holdouts are a hard way to go for both sides.

Per puckpedia.com, GM Don Sweeney has some $8.6 million remaining to spend, following his pricey UFA signings of Elias Lindholm and Nikita Zadorov. On a long-term deal (5-8 years), Swayman should eat up most of that surplus, if not more, perhaps forcing Sweeney to delete salary elsewhere via trade or designate someone to long term injured reserve.

All 32 teams can run 10 percent over the cap during the offseason, but must be on the money ($88 million or less) by opening night.

Loose pucks

Buffalo remains without a Stanley Cup, but the trophy made it just north of town on Tuesday when Rick Dudley kept his word to pals at the Griffon Gastropub in Lewiston, N.Y., and brought it to the eatery at the edge of the mighty Niagara River. The former Sabres winger, now 75, is a senior adviser to GM Bill Zito in Florida, where he last coached 20 years earlier. “Duds” was a member of the Sabres squad that lost to the Flyers in the ‘75 Cup Final, one of only two trips the Sabres have made to the Stanley Cup Final. “You think, ‘We’ll do this again … it’ll happen again,’” a humble Dudley told WIVB, Ch. 4 in Buffalo. “And sometimes it doesn’t.” An unabashed Western New York booster, Dudley lives year-round in Lewiston, not far from Niagara University and nearly within earshot of the thundering Niagara Falls … Hendrickson, not back with the Wild coaching staff, is the father of Bruins prospect Beckett Hendrickson (drafted No. 124 in ‘23). The junior Hendrickson, a 6-foot-1-inch, 175-poiund left shot center, had a strong season in the USHL (59 games/64 points) and is now prepping to begin his freshman season at the University of Minnesota. The last Bruins draftee with a Golden Gopher pedigree to hit it big: Phil Kessel: No. 5 in 2006. Kessel entered the draft out of his freshman season and stepped directly into the Black and Gold varsity lineup that fall under the watch of Dave Lewis … Bruins rookies report to Brighton on Sept. 11, and if history holds, they’ll head quickly to Buffalo for the Prospects Challenge (with clubs such as Montreal, Ottawa, Pittsburgh, and New Jersey also participating in past years). As the weekend approached, the host Sabres had yet to announce the tourney is a go this year … The dazzling Matvei Michkov officially has landed in Philly, maybe a year or two ahead of time (one never knows how to interpret those, let’s say, fungible Russian KHL contracts). If Broad Street coach John Tortorella allows him to let his skills flow, Michkov could be the kind of dynamic, game-breaking winger that Kirill Kaprizov has been for the Wild — a potential great boost for a Flyer club that has strung together four postseason DNQs for the first time since the start of the ‘90s. Frustrated Habs fans will have eyes laser-focused on how Michkov progresses. Devotees of Les Glorieux were eager to see Michkov selected at No. 5 in 2023, only to grumble when Jeff Gorton and Kent Hughes opted instead for Swiss defenseman David Reinbacher, who spent most of last season back in Switzerland. If Michkov storms out of the gate, the wailing out of Montreal could stir the St. Lawrence River to tsunami levels … Flyers GM Danny Briere also got ahead of the curve with his top offensive producer, signing right winger Travis Konecny to an eight-year/$72 million extension that will kick in at the start of the 2025-26 season. Konecny, 33-35—68 last season, was a Round 1 pick (No. 24) in the 2015 draft that had the Bruins selecting Jakub Zboril (13), Jake DeBrusk (14) and Zach Senyshyn (15) … The Ducks make their Garden visit on Feb. 22, which should draw extra interest if ex-BU center Macklin Celebrini, the No. 1 pick in last month’s draft, is in the lineup. As the weekend began, Celebrini was one of 17 first-round picks from June signed to their first NHL deals — the vast majority of whom are expected to return to their Canadian junior or European clubs … Sacco turned pro with the Leafs organization out of BU following his junior season, a decision, he recalled, that then coach Jack Parker left up to him. “No regrets. It worked out for me, maybe I’d feel differently if it didn’t,” said Sacco, asked if he wished he’d stayed for his senior season. “The only regret I may have is that next year, BU lost the NCAA final.” Northern Michigan prevailed, 8-7, in three overtimes. Parker was OK with him leaving, Sacco recalled with a laugh, “Because he had a pretty good player coming in by the name of Keith Tkachuk.” … Longtime pal Mike Loftus, who covered the Bruins beat for the Patriot Ledger for 20-plus years, died last weekend. He was 65. Hard-working and dry-witted, he was among the most diligent and dedicated reporters on the beat. He was kind, even-tempered, gifted with a perpetual smile and an expert’s eye for the games and people he chronicled. Stick taps to “Movie” Loftus.

Kevin Paul Dupont can be reached at [email protected].