A big name got added to the pool of available NHL coaching candidates on Monday, as the Pittsburgh Penguins announced that the team and longtime head coach Mike Sullivan have agreed to part ways.
Sullivan spent 10 years in Pittsburgh and coached the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017. The team had fallen off in recent years, though, as they missed the playoffs the last three seasons and hadn’t won a playoff series since 2018.
That wasn’t really Sullivan’s fault, as Penguins management has committed a number of roster-building missteps while trying to keep open/re-open the Cup window for franchise legends Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang. Nonetheless, it seems the time had finally come for a new voice behind the bench.
Sullivan’s connections to Boston are many, which naturally lends itself to the idea that Sullivan could immediately become one of the top candidates for the Bruins’ vacant head coaching job. It’s a topic we discussed Monday on The Skate Podcast, which you can listen to above.
The 57-year-old Sullivan grew up in Marshfield and played college hockey at Boston University from 1986-90. Sullivan coached the Providence Bruins in 2002-03 and then the Boston Bruins from 2003-06, winning a division title in 2003-04 before getting upset by the Montreal Canadiens in the first round.
After some post-lockout roster mismanagement by then-general manager Mike O’Connell, the Bruins missed the playoffs in 2005-06 and fired both O’Connell and Sullivan. That was all before Cam Neely and Don Sweeney’s tenure, so there would seemingly be no hard feelings between Sullivan and the organization at this point.
On top of all that, Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy is Sullivan’s son-in-law. His daughter Kiley and McAvoy welcomed their first child – Sullivan’s grandson – in January. That could either be a pro or a con depending on how all parties involved – Sullivan, McAvoy, and the Bruins – would feel about Sullivan coaching McAvoy.
Sullivan spoke highly of Boston while coaching Team USA during the 4 Nations Face-Off in February, calling it “a great hockey city” and saying that the opportunity to coach that team in Boston, where he still has lots of friends and family, made it “that much more exciting.”
Bruins general manager Don Sweeney, who played with Sullivan in Boston in 1997-98 and then briefly under Sullivan when he was an assistant coach for the Bruins in 2002-03, said last week that he would be looking for a coach with “some form of NHL exposure” when it comes to experience, which Sullivan certainly has many times over. He also said he wanted a coach who could “evolve offensively” while also maintaining good team defense as “part of our fabric.” Sullivan’s best Penguins teams certainly did both of those things, but there was slippage on both fronts as the roster deteriorated in recent years. How much blame Sullivan deserves for that is up for debate.
Sweeney said the Bruins have already begun their coaching search, although it’s unclear if they have talked to any candidates yet besides current interim head coach Joe Sacco. Some of the names on their wish list could be assistant coaches whose teams are still playing in the Stanley Cup playoffs.
If the Bruins are interested in Sullivan, though, they’re going to have competition. The New York Rangers, for one, may very well make Sullivan their top target and try to move quickly. According to The Athletic, Rangers general manager Chris Drury has wanted Sullivan in the past, had he been available. Sullivan was an assistant coach for the Rangers from 2009-13 under John Tortorella, reaching the conference finals in 2012.
Besides the Bruins, Rangers and Penguins, other teams that currently have openings are the Philadelphia Flyers, Chicago Blackhawks, Anaheim Ducks and Seattle Kraken. The Vancouver Canucks and New York Islanders are rumored to be considering coaching changes as well, although neither has taken action yet.