As the rumors of Claude Julien’s job speculation continue, the Bruins’ front office is leaving their 10th-year bench boss hanging.

The talent pool is simply tough for Julien to work with. The disparity between the Bruins’ depth and the upper echelon teams in the National Hockey League is significantly wide as seen in Sunday’s 5-1 loss to the defending Stanley Cup champion Penguins.

This is where management mistakes come into play. Gone are the days of Tyler Seguin, Johnny Boychuk, Dougie Hamilton, Milan Lucic and countless others. They were replaced by the likes Loui Eriksson (now with Vancouver), Reilly Smith (traded for Jimmy Hayes), Joe Morrow and Colin Miller just to name a few.

Okay, so Brandon Carlo and Ryan Lindgren – who were selected with the Isles original picks from the Boychuk trade – may turn out to be pretty good finds. Ditto for other draft picks like Charlie McAvoy and Zach Senyshyn.

The present, however, is unkind to the Bruins thanks to the blunders by Cam Neely, Don Sweeney and former GM Peter Chiarelli. It’s equally unkind to Julien as Sweeney and Neely remain silent – aside from a 1-on-1 with Fluto Shinzawa and the annual State of the Bruins address before last Saturday’s game against the Flyers – on their coach’s future and how they can try to fix the situation in Boston.

This isn’t to say Julien is faultless as the reality of a third straight season without playoff hockey settles in. From a head-scratching decision to bench Miller in favor of John-Michael Liles in Carolina to the Bruins’ no-shows against teams in the bottom of the standings like the Islanders and Avalanche at home, Julien has a hand in where the Bruins sit in the Atlantic Division.

On the list of issues surrounding the Black and Gold, however, Julien’s coaching is near the bottom of the list. The silence of Neely and Sweeney, the roster makeup and the ongoing baffling decisions in player personnel – including signing David Backes to a 5-year deal in the off-season – are more alarming than Julien trying to implement his system with the players he has.

If it weren’t for a mediocre Atlantic Division outside of Montreal, the Bruins would likely be near 12th, 13th or 14th place in the East. They may be there when teams who have games in hand make up ground during the B’s bye week in mid-February.

A slow trade market will likely keep the Bruins from getting a jump that they need to overcome their run of mediocrity and make it back to the playoffs. Even if they look at acquiring Gabriel Landeskog or Matt Duchene, there will be a price that Sweeney has to pay, perhaps even Brandon Carlo.

Before they address any personnel decisions, Sweeney and/or Neely should come out publicly and make a decision on Julien’s future for better or for worse. The continued hot seat rumors and ongoing silence puts Julien in a situation where he is the puppet and upper management is pulling his strings.

Neely and Sweeney have both had Julien’s back in the past from public comments made at media day by the Bruins President to the GM retaining the B’s coach on two occasions. In these desperate times, neither are anywhere to be heard from.

Julien will go down as one of the best coaches in franchise history when all is said and done. He’s trying to get the most of a mediocre bunch in 2016-17.

Not only does he deserve a better roster to work with, but Julien also deserves a better fate. He may have to find that in another market.