The Bruins made some notable tweaks to their coaching staff on Wednesday.

The B’s are bringing back Jay Leach, the former Providence Bruins head coach, to work as an assistant on Jim Montgomery’s staff.

The 44-year-old Leach had shown a lot of promise as the P-Bruins’ bench boss from 2017-21 when he amassed a 136-77-26 record. He most recently was an assistant on Dave Hakstol’s staff for the expansion Seattle Kraken for three years until Hakstol was let go at the end of the 2023-24 season. Leach, a Syracuse, N.Y., native who played his college hockey at Providence College, will work with the B’s defense.

“Jay was a very successful coach with the Providence Bruins where he greatly impacted our player development system, and he also brings valuable experience as an assistant coach from the Seattle Kraken. We believe Jay will integrate quickly and complement our current staff as he comes back to the Bruins to work with our defense corps,” said GM Don Sweeney in a statement.

Joe Sacco, who had been in charge of the defense, got a bump up to associate coach while John McLean, who had joined Montgomery’s staff last season, was moved back to similar role for which he was originally hired, joining the player development staff as a skating and skills coach.

“John was instrumental working with our medical staff on players returning from injury, and his experience as an assistant coach this season will provide great insights to young players throughout our organization to understand the individual work that is required to develop as a Bruin,” said Sweeney.

If history were to repeat itself, the B’s have another in-house head coaching candidate in Leach, who was highly regarded in his time in the organization, should things go awry for some reason. In the 2016-17 season, Bruce Cassidy, who’d been the P-Bruins head coach, was hired as an assistant on Claude Julien’s staff. Before that season was done, Cassidy replaced Julien after the latter’s decade-long tenure.

Montgomery, however, has proven to be a very good coach in the regular season in his two years with the B’s and, after his record-breaking team was upset in the first round of the 2023 playoffs, the B’s won a round this past season and, despite some glitches (seven too-many-men penalties in the playoffs), they gave the Florida Panthers a better series than any other team has so far.

“I’m thrilled to have Jay Leach join our coaching staff,” said Montgomery in the press release. “Jay has an impressive track record at both the AHL and NHL level, and his experience connecting with players will greatly benefit our team.”

Montgomery also added: “I’d like to congratulate Joe Sacco on his promotion to associate coach. Joe has been an integral part of this staff due to his experience and the passion he brings to our group every day. I also want to thank John McLean for his work as an assistant coach this past season, and I’m grateful his knowledge of the game will continue to be a tremendous asset for our player development group.”