The Penguins have not received any formal requests to speak with head coach Mike Sullivan about other league vacancies, general manager Kyle Dubas told The Athletic’s Rob Rossi. However, that doesn’t mean they’re not internally debating the future of the rest of their coaching staff, as Daily Faceoff’s Frank Seravalli reports internal discussions about the future of their assistants have “contributed to noise” about Sullivan and increased other teams’ interest in his services. Rossi added that the Devils are interested in Sullivan to succeed Lindy Ruff, who they fired and replaced with interim boss Travis Green midseason, but haven’t submitted a request to speak with him.
While there’s no concrete indication yet that the Penguins are considering moving on from Sullivan, it does appear the futures of associate coach Todd Reirden, assistants Ty Hennes and Mike Vellucci and goaltending coach Andy Chiodo are uncertain. Reirden and Vellucci have either held NHL head coaching roles or generated interest in head coaching roles in the past and may get interviews for the five-plus vacancies around the league if Pittsburgh opts not to bring them back. They both signed two-year deals in 2022 that finished up in 2023-24 and will no longer be under contract with the Pens as of July 1.
The Penguins have already made one coaching change this summer, opting to part ways with a pair of AHL coaches, including bench boss J.D. Forrest. It was an unexpected choice, as a middling WBS squad finished ninth in the AHL with a 39-24-8-1 record.
The NHL club, meanwhile, fell short of the postseason for the second straight season despite a 42-goal, 94-point campaign from captain Sidney Crosby. It’s their first time missing the playoffs in back-to-back years since they were out of postseason contention from 2002 to 2006.
Firing Sullivan would mean Pittsburgh is still on the hook to pay him a reported total of $16.5MM over the next three seasons, thanks to an extension signed under previous GM Ron Hextall in 2022 – that certainly qualifies as a deterrent.
There’s literally zero reason to fire Sullivan.
NOW…if someone wants to offer a first round pick for a coach…I could be talked into trading him and talking myself into thinking we need a fresh voice.
Otherwise, no way, he’s far from the problem.
I don’t think trading coaches is allowed anymore.
Oh, well, then a brief profane response to Fitzgerald is the only appropriate one to that question.
I don’t think it’s going to matter who you put behind the bench at this point.
But Sullivan should be shown the door, at a minimum the assistants should go.
Firing Sullivan with three years left would be ultra dumb.
The best way to handle this, of course, is to remain silent and leave all of these rumors flying around and the soon to be unemployed assistants twisting in the wind.
The worst thing they could do to Coach Sullivan would be to yank his staff out from under him and replace them with people not of his choosing.
Sullivan wasn’t the fellow who accumulated the oldest roster in the league, and then doubled down and got OLDER, and then got half-assed at the trade deadline and failed to move either of two goalies playing well, when teams were screaming for goaltending and one of the guys was on a very team-friendly expiring contract.
Is Pittsburgh management so stupid as to think their fanbase are all morons, and will accept that the coach who very nearly got into the playoffs anyway is the one at fault?
Don’t recall Pittsburgh got permission to talk to Dubas when he was GM of leafs. Dubas had a deal done before he was fired. Should have been an investigation by NHL. If Leafs complained who knows. Think they were just happy with good riddance.