from Fluto Shinzawa of the Boston Globe,
If the Bruins fired Claude Julien now, they’d give their coach more options to find his next job. Assuming he finds work, it would relieve the Bruins of part of their salary obligations. But the chatter around the league revolves around two reasons the Bruins have yet to let Julien go: protection and perception.
They don’t want to strengthen a rival such as the Flyers, who are looking for a coach to replace Craig Berube. They also want to assure their customers that the next GM would make the call, just as CEO Charlie Jacobs and team president Cam Neely promised during their news conference explaining the decision to fire Peter Chiarelli.
Julien’s eventual ouster will be hastened once Mike Babcock chooses his destination, whether it’s Detroit, Toronto, or Buffalo. But by then, the teams that miss on Babcock will execute their backup options. This could leave Julien on the outside. The Bruins would be responsible for his full freight.
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