As what is expected to be an epic Stanley Cup finals gets underway tonight in Tampa — the Tampa Bay Lightning hosting the favored Chicago Blackhawks in a matchup of perhaps the two fastest and most talented teams in the game — fans and insiders across the NHL are wondering what the heck the Bruins are waiting for with their coaching decision.

Is Claude Julien keeping his job or is it possible the team’s new front office could, at this late date, still fire the longtime B’s coach?

It is believed that Julien — just 10 wins away from the team record for coaching victories — truly does not know what’s going to happen.

One veteran insider in the Boston pro hockey community yesterday offered his take on the delay: that the Bruins love the way the Lightning and Blackhawks play, and are trying to decide whether Julien is the right guy to get the B’s playing a comparable brand of hockey.

“I’m hearing that it’s not definitely a done deal,” said the source of Julien’s return. “What I’ve heard is that Claude has been presented with a presentation that says: ‘We’ve got to be different. Look at the NHL’s final four: up-tempo, high pressure, the offensive players are really flying up the ice.’ It’s a great game. It’s fun to watch. It’s great, tough hockey. I think (Julien) has got to buy into that. They want a change.

“I wouldn’t be surprised if they kept him. But then again, I don’t think anybody would be surprised if they didn’t. You’d think before the (June 26 NHL) draft that they have to make up their minds. We’ll see what happens, but you’d think they would have made that decision by now, wouldn’t you?”

If this is so, if team president Cam Neely & Co. are so determined to discard their old ways and play more open, risk-taking hockey, maybe it’s worth a reminder that just two seasons ago the B’s were so slow and so mired in the Julien system that they managed to get only 118 points.

His system works just fine, as long as he has the players to make it work.

An interesting nugget came from another source, a former Bruins player, who said Neely wanted Julien to add former Washington Capitals coach Adam Oates to his staff for this season. Julien, presumably with the support of ex-general manager Peter Chiarelli, wouldn’t do it.

But now there is speculation that the holdup on Julien’s status is about Neely and new GM Don Sweeney wanting to replace one or more assistant coaches. Could Oates still be a guy of interest? Or how about Rick Bowness, once Neely’s and Sweeney’s coach with the Bruins, who is Tampa Bay’s associate coach?

Bowness often runs the Lightning practices and has significant in-put on their high-speed play, if that’s what Neely and Sweeney think the B’s are lacking.

“Where speed is concerned, what you see is clear,” said the insider. “Speed-wise, no one thinks the Bruins are a fast hockey team. They’re just not. Team speed is an issue, especially up front. They play a slower, control game. Their entries are kind of deliberate; they’re not coming at you in high-speed waves.

“But these games we’ve watched the last two weeks — wow. You go five minutes without a whistle, up and down, back and forth. You’ve got to be ready to move. You better be able to get going in a hurry. Tampa obviously has got some burners and so do the Blackhawks.

“For the Bruins, if you want to get back to that Stanley Cup level, then you better get up-tempo in a hurry.”

Bruins notes

With a fourth line to rebuild, the Bruins made a signing yesterday, as NCAA champion Providence College co-captain Noel Acciari inked a two-year free agent contract, a deal first reported by ESPN. The 5-foot-11, 205-pound native of Johnston, R.I., had 15 goals and 17 assists in 41 games last season, but is known as a physical, strong two-way player, who perhaps could slot in as the No. 4 center. Acciari was named the Hockey East defensive player of the year.