The Bruins didn’t to wait see if Pete DeBoer got fired by the Stars to hire their head coach, but they did make a key hire from the Dallas staff.

The B’s announced on Friday that they have hired long-time assistant Steve Spott, who had been running the power play under DeBoer for the last three season.

Head coach Marco Sturm said in his introductory press conference that he wanted to fill the one open assistant job on the staff with someone with power-play experience so job one for Spott will be to breathe some life into the B’s ailing man-advantage that finished 29th in the league at 15.2%.

In Spott’s first year with Dallas, the Stars were fifth in the league in PP (25%), then sixth (24.2%) before dropping to 17th (22%) last season. Spott has also been an NHL assistant in Vegas, San Jose and Toronto. He was also head coach of the Toronto Marlies (AHL) in 2013-14. He played at Colgate from 1986-90 and two seasons of minor league hockey.

“I’m thrilled to add Steve Spott to our coaching staff, and also welcome him, his wife Lisa and their children, Tyler and Emma, to Boston,” said Sturm in a team statement. “Steve is a passionate teacher, a strong communicator, and brings great structure and detail to everything he does. His experience, especially on special teams, will be a major asset for our group and for the Bruins moving forward.”

Spott joins a staff that includes holdovers Chris Kelly, who ran the power play last season, Jay Leach and goalie coach Bob Essensa.

“I’m incredibly excited and honored to join the Boston Bruins organization,” said Spott in the same team release. “Being part of an Original Six franchise with such a proud history and tradition means a great deal to me and my family. The opportunity to work alongside Marco and the rest of this coaching staff, in front of one of the most passionate fanbases in hockey, is something I’m truly grateful for, and I can’t wait to get started.”

Under DeBoer, Spott and the Stars went to three straight Western Conference finals but things went off the rails in the team’s loss to the Edmonton Oilers this year, in part due to DeBoer’s controversial decision to pull goalie Jake Oettinger in the decisive Game 5 loss. DeBoer was let go shortly after the Stars’ ouster.

Here with the Bruins, it’s not yet clear what pieces Spott will have at his disposal to revive the moribund PP that struggled in particular with zone entries. It starts, of course, with David Pastrnak on one of the elbows and Elias Lindholm in the bumper. Morgan Geekie — still unsigned as an RFA, though GM Don Sweeney has reiterated that the wing will be on the team one way or another — will presumably be in the mix. There is some question as to who will be at the top of the configuration. Charlie McAvoy started the season there but Mason Lohrei, another RFA, saw some time with the top unit and added some spark.

But Sweeney has also made it clear he intends to add to the forward mix, whether it’s through free agency, which opens on July 1, or through the trade market. The options in free agency are dwindling by the day, as Ryan Donato (Chicago) and Matt Duchene (Dallas) have already re-upped with their teams and Sam Bennett, feeling no pain at the Florida Panthers’ Stanley Cup party, announced that he’s “not f-ing leaving!”

The most desirable players left on the free agent market are Mitch Marner, Brock Boeser and Nikolaj Ehlers.

The trade market has also gotten underway, with the salary cap-crunched Stars sending Mason Marchment to Seattle for a 2025 fourth-round pick and a 2026 third-rounder. The Devils also dealt former Bruin Erik Haula to Nashville for Jeremy Hanzel and a 2025 fourth-round pick.

The hiring of Spott kicks off what should be a busy few weeks for the B’s. Along with Geekie and Lohrei, the B’s have to make decisions on other RFAs Jakub Lauko, Marat Khusnutdinov and John Beecher, as well as UFAs Henri Jokiharju, Parker Wotherspoon and Cole Koepke.