Boston Bruins Odds: +3000 to win Stanley Cup after firing coach Jim Montgomery

The Boston Bruins are 8-9-3, have played more games than any other team in the Atlantic Division, and have scored the fewest goals (48) of any Eastern Conference team.

They decided to fire head coach Jim Montgomery as a result of the slow start.

Montgomery led the Bruins to a first-placed finish in the division in 2022/23, his first season with the team, and he led them to second in the division last season. Despite that regular-season success, he never led them past the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs.

The Bruins are currently +3000 to win the Stanley Cup in 2024/25 at the time of Montgomery's firing, which puts them right in the middle of the pack as they have the 16th-shortest odds of the league's 32 teams.

As it stands, oddsmakers see Boston as more likely to miss the playoffs (-130) than make the playoffs (+100).

Montgomery's former assistant, Joe Sacco, will take over as interim head coach. From goaltender play to goalscoring, he has a lot to fix.

Starting goaltender Jeremy Swayman, whose 2023/24 playoff performances persuaded the team to trade away former Vezina Trophy winner Linus Ullmark and give Swayman a huge extension, is one of the worst-performing goalies this season. He has allowed 7.3 goals more than expected, which ranks fifth-worst of any NHL goalie to appear in a game this season.

The Bruins discipline has also been poor as they're second in the NHL in penalty minutes per game (11.7), and six players have spent at least 15 minutes in the penalty box through 20 games. The fact they have the league's eighth-worst penalty kill (75.64 percent) does not help matters.

In terms of point production, David Pastrnak and Brad Marchand lead the way with 17 and 13 points, but they also have plus/minus ratings of -4 and -3 respectively.

In fact, just one skater in the team's top five of total ice time has a positive plus/minus rating. That's defenseman Charlie McAvoy at +1. Aside from him, only bit-part players Tyler Johnson, John Beecher, Mark Kastelic and Cole Koepke have positive ratings.

There's a lot to fix in Beantown if the Bruins want to see the postseason for the ninth season in a row, and Sacco will be counted on to get the team's stars in gear.

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Odds displayed within this article were correct at the time of writing and are subject to change.