Claude Julien can finally breathe easy.
Speaking at the NHL Combine in Buffalo on Friday, Boston Bruins general manager Don Sweeney confirmed the head coach and his staff - including Doug Jarvis, Doug Houda, Joe Sacco, and Bob Essensa - will be back behind the bench to start the 2015-16 regular season.
The announcement comes over two weeks after Sweeney was named as the club's new GM, wherein he said he was going to take the necessary time to evaluate Julien and his staff.
"I needed to have conversations with each and every (coach) to know we were in agreement," Sweeney said. "(I'm) not going to apologize for taking a little time to go through the process."
Sweeney added there will be a measure of change to the Bruins approach on the ice next season, with a direct impact also stemming from personnel decisions:
(Julien) communicated to me that they had already been thinking of some of the changes I had spoken about and he was looking forward to attacking that and clearly that's going to revolve around some roster decisions as well.
I think it's all of the above and I'm going to lean on those guys, see what they bring to the table and I'm hoping it's the other way around. And that was part of it for me to make sure that they knew that my voice was going to be heard and respected in that regard.
(via NHL.com)
Julien's seemingly uncertain status in Boston was the result of the Bruins missing the playoffs for the first time since 2007, and by only two points in the standings at that.
All told, he has posted a coaching record of 351-192-79 in eight years with the Bruins, leading the team to a Stanley Cup in 2011 and a berth in the Final as recently as 2013.
Add it all up, and the decision to retain his services should come as no surprise.
At the same time, however, Julien will reportedly be kept under close watch to begin next season, meaning his standing may not be as secure as this vote of confidence from Sweeney may appear.
Julien will enter next season as the longest tenured head coach in the NHL.
