The Boston Bruins brought in a fresh -- but familiar -- face to be the team's new head coach, hiring former player Marco Sturm on Thursday. This will be Sturm's first gig as an NHL head coach, as Boston looks to take the franchise in a new direction after a disappointing 2024-25 season.

While Sturm has never been a bench leader at the NHL level, he did have success as a head coach in the AHL and internationally for Germany. He led the German Men's National Team to a silver medal in the 2018 Olympics, and most recently the Ontario Reign (the AHL affiliate of the L.A. Kings) to three straight playoff appearances.

Sturm will be officially introduced by the Bruins next Tuesday, though we already have a pretty good idea of what kind of system and program he'll run in Boston. Bruins radio analyst Bob Beers joined WBZ-TV's Dan Roche to discuss the hiring of Sturm, and said the new head coach has a lot of work to do -- and will need a lot of help from the front office -- to turn the Boston defense around.

The Boston defense was abhorrent for large stretches last season, ranking 26th in the NHL in goals allowed and 17th in scoring chances allowed. It led to the team's worst season in two decades, as the Bruins finished with the fifth-worst record in the NHL. The team missed the playoffs for the first time since 2015-16.

The Kings have had a fantastic defensive foundation for a while now, and the Bruins are counting on Sturm to establish something similar in Boston.

"We thought [the defense was going to be the team's strength] going into the season last year and it wasn't the case. It cost Jim Montgomery his job; they just weren't good defensively," Beers said of the 2024-25 Boston Bruins. "They had a lot of holes and Jeremey Swayman would admit he wants to have a better season."

The Reign were 11th in the AHL last season with 207 goals allowed for the year. Ontario also had the 10th-best penalty kill last season at 83.5 percent.

Beers said a big challenge for Sturm will be getting the Bruins to play defense as an entire unit, which was missing last season.

"We were talking about team defense, so we're talking about everyone playing as a unit. That wasn't the case for too many parts of last season. There were times when they played well and played connected as a five-man group, but too many times -- way too many times -- they weren't connected as a group defensively," he said. "That has to change."

While Sturm's approach from the bench should help, Beers added that it's up to GM Don Sweeney to make some key additions to the Boston defensive corps this offseason.

"Defensively as a whole, they still need to add on that back end," said Beers. "They were missing [Hampus] Lindholm and [Charlie] McAcvoy for the later part of the season. Those are two big boosts, but I think there are a couple of holes to fill. We'll see how they do that, whether it's free agency, trades, or a callup."

Before Sturm can set any system in place, Beers said he needs to begin connecting with his new players. He'll then have to figure out who will become the team's new leader after a lot of veteran leadership, including team captain Brad Marchand, was traded away at last season's deadline.

"[His challenge is] getting to know his players and getting on the same page with some of the leaders; leadership took a big hit with Brad Marchand going out the door," said Beers. "They've had some good leadership here for years now -- who is going to be that leader, the guy who steps up? Establishing that leadership group and a good report with your leadership group and getting on the same page quickly [is key]. 

"I didn't like training camp last year; I felt it was disjointed and they talk about that as well," added Beers. "Now they're moving forward, can learn from some of those mistakes, and I think Sturm getting to work right away is important."

McAvoy is a favorite to take over as team captain, though David Pastrnak is also a candidate after wearing an "A" on his sweater the four years.

In the release announcing Sturm's hiring, Sweeney mentioned the team was looking for a coach "who could uphold our strong defensive foundation while helping us evolve offensively." Defense is at the top of everyone's mind with this move.

But Beers said there's something else Sturm can bring that was missing from the dressing room last season: Accountability.

"That has to be high up on their list, making sure players are held accountable for how they play. You talk about the Bruins way of wanting to play, and a lot of teams are playing with pace or playing physical. But if you go back to what we talked about earlier, the strength has to be team defense and then you build your goal-scoring from that," said Beers. "I think that would be No. 1 on the list."

Ultimately though, it will be up to Sweeney to give Sturm a roster that can fit his vision and succeed on the ice.

"Can you do it with the players you finished with last season? No. There has to be massive improvements to a few different areas, whether it's defensemen or forward. And the players in your lineup have to play better. They got rid of some key players, popular players in their lineup," said Beers. "Replacing them isn't easy, and they have the challenge to make sure they get good people and good players in place. The group they had at the end of last season, you can't move forward with that group. It has to be something better."