Kyle Dubas explains ‘amicable’ Mike Sullivan-Penguins split

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CRANBERRY TOWNSHIP, Pa. — Mike Sullivan made no demands. Sidney Crosby had no input.

And Kyle Dubas has suspected for a while now that his Pittsburgh Penguins needed a new coach. The past week was about him finding confirmation before bringing a seismic shift to the organization he joined two years ago.

“There were times throughout the year that I thought it just may be time,” Dubas said of Sullivan on Monday.

“It’s a lot to ask of somebody, when they’ve done such a long and successful job here, to be managing that and continue to transition the team, too. Off the top of my head, I don’t know that there’s an NHL coach that’s done that.”

Sullivan won’t get the chance with the Penguins.

Following a couple of meetings last week — Tuesday in Pittsburgh and Sunday in Boston — Dubas trusted his gut and decided to end the longest, most successful run by any Penguins coach. Dubas described a conversation at Sullivan’s home Sunday as “amicable,” and also conceded he expected Sullivan to have a successful next act behind an NHL bench.

Dubas said his partnership with Sullivan, which lasted two seasons, revealed two truths:

1. Sullivan is an elite coach.

2. Dubas felt the Penguins needed a different coach as they moved from trying to make one last run with an aged nucleus to bringing along younger players who could be part of the franchise’s next Stanley Cup contender.

“He and I met last Tuesday — just about where we’re at, where we’re going, the road that we see to get there, the challenges that lie ahead,” Dubas said. “In my mind, and there had been a few stretches during the year where I feel this as well … where maybe someone could be a great coach and it was just time for them to go elsewhere.

“Use whatever analogy you want: Sometimes the class needs a new professor, sometimes the professor needs a new class.”

Sullivan, whose Penguins tenure began with back-to-back Cup wins in 2016 and 2017, held the franchise records for regular-season and postseason wins, 409 and 44, respectively. He had two years remaining on his contract, which made him one of the NHL’s top-paid coaches at around $5.5 million.

Dubas said Sullivan has permission to interview for other NHL openings. He also confirmed the NHL does not permit the Penguins to receive compensation in the form of players, prospects or draft picks if Sullivan is hired for another job.

Pittsburgh assistant coaches Mike Vellucci, Ty Hennes and Andy Chiodo are free to seek employment with other teams but will be allowed to interview for staff openings under the next Penguins coach, Dubas said. Vellucci worked with forwards and ran the penalty kill. Hennes was the skills coach. Chiodo coached goalies.

Sullivan’s friend David Quinn, who joined the Penguins as an assistant last offseason, remains under contract to the team.

Sullivan should be in high demand, but his current focus is on spending time with his family in Boston. He is declining requests for interviews at this time.

Dubas spoke Monday from the same room at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex where he conducted a season wrap-up session with local media a week to the day. Then, he described the relationship between the heads of hockey operations and coaching as “like anything — a partnership,” and expressed a willingness to continue his with Sullivan if Sullivan “reaffirmed” a desire to see the Penguins through a period where development is as much a priority as pushing for the playoffs.

Dubas didn’t say Monday whether he had granted Sullivan a public out a week ago. But he did say that at no point in their talks over the previous week had Sullivan presented a list of demands or any ultimatum for him to return to the Penguins.

Also, Dubas said, he did not ask for the opinion of Crosby, the Penguins’ longtime captain, before deciding to part with Sullivan.

When asked directly by a reporter if he was concerned Crosby would want to leave the Penguins because Sullivan is no longer the coach, Dubas flatly said, “No.”

Crosby, who has not stopped training since the end of the season and skated again with injured Penguins on Monday, has two seasons remaining on a contract extension he signed before this season. Most of the money will be paid to Crosby before he plays a game in year two of that contract, which also contains a full no-movement clause.

Crosby has repeatedly said he is not interested in playing for another franchise. He is 66 goals and 37 points from breaking Mario Lemieux’s franchise records.

“When we go through coaching changes, or any changes in the organization, I have to do what I think is best for the organization,” Dubas said Monday.

Dubas noted that Crosby has “been through (coaching changes) before,” and acknowledged a “five-minute phone conversation” with Crosby before he met with Sullivan on Sunday.

A “wide net will be cast” to find the Penguins’ next coach, Dubas said. He added that virtual interviews will begin soon, and candidates could include former NHL coaches, current assistants, the college and junior ranks and European teams.

“Someone who can come in and continue to partner with us in all that we’re undertaking, who understands the job ahead is going to be a time of transition,” Dubas said. “It’s going to be a job that’s continuing to maximize the prime and end of careers of some of the players that we have, to expeditiously be developing some of the younger players that have already come onto the roster, make tweaks and changes to the system — the way we integrate players —and put their stamp on the organization.

“They don’t have to continue on what’s been built on the coaching side.”

(Photo of Mike Sullivan hugging Pascal Dupuis: Robert Reiners / Getty Images)

This news was originally published on this post .

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