Sometime soon, the Pittsburgh Penguins will hire a new coach, whose identity is a mystery.
Another mystery is at play, too, and it directly affects the Penguins’ hire: Just how prestigious is this job?
The answer isn’t as simple as you may think.
On one level, the Penguins have so much to offer:
• Fenway Sports Group is hands-off and has deep pockets — a nice one-two punch for a coaching destination.
• Your captain isn’t just any captain, but it’s Sidney Crosby, among the greatest captains and players in hockey history. Even at 37, he’s still one of the world’s best players. The new hire may even get to be Crosby’s final NHL coach.
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• It’s the Penguins. In the past 45 years, no NHL team has won the Stanley Cup more times than the Penguins (five). Pittsburgh may be a small market, but the Penguins have been big time for a long while. They win a lot. They’ve had a bigger galaxy of stars than any NHL franchise over the past four decades.
• Pittsburgh is among America’s greatest hockey towns. Penguins fans are loyal, knowledgeable and widespread across North America.
• PPG Paints Arena is one of the NHL’s better buildings, and the fantastic UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex is one of its best practice facilities.
• The Penguins have three first-round draft picks in the next 12 months, so some prime talent is coming.
• Your boss would be Kyle Dubas. Coaches typically like him. Sheldon Keefe enjoyed working with him quite a bit. So did Mike Sullivan.
OK, so it’s a great job, right?
Well, it’s not the worst. Far from it. But …
• Your boss would be Kyle Dubas. That’s not a bad thing. As mentioned above, coaches like working with Dubas. He’s bright. He’s personable. So, what’s the problem? Dubas’ timeline is different than Sullivan’s. Dubas is playing the long game (which isn’t necessarily the wrong approach). In other words, the Penguins very well might stink next season. How many veteran coaches want to deal with a shoddy roster for a minimum of one season? How many coaches from the NCAA or Canadian Hockey League, or wherever else Dubas may find a young coach, are willing to go 28-42-10 in their first season as head coach? That’s a hard question.
• There isn’t that much help on the way.
Rutger McGroarty and Ville Koivunen are good, young players. Harrison Brunicke and Sergei Murashov look like impactful prospects. That’s great. But most organizations have those types of prospects. When Dubas arrived, the Penguins’ system was barren. He’s done well to get the ball rolling. But this isn’t Mike Therrien showing up in 2005 when Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Marc-Andre Fleury and Kris Letang were already in the organization.
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The Penguins are accumulating young players who project well, but I don’t know how much star power is on the way. That’s a problem.
Hockey is a team game, of course, but look at the remaining eight playoff teams. You’ll see a lot of stars.
• Yes, those three first-round picks in the next 12 months are nice. But when will they be ready to contribute? 2027?
• Crosby turns 38 in August. While he’ll still be great for a while longer, Crosby is still nearing the end.
• Malkin turns 39 this summer and isn’t close to the player he once was. Letang, fresh off heart surgery and a rough season, just turned 38. They can both be challenging to coach. Erik Karlsson turns 35 this month and, in his first 34 years on this planet, has yet to encounter a coach capable of entirely getting through to him.
• Tristan Jarry would figure to be your most reliable goaltender.
• As of today, Ryan Graves is still on your roster. Moreover, the NHL’s likely worst blue line is awaiting you.
• Kevin Hayes and Noel Acciari hold bottom-six spots.
This is all plenty to digest.
The allure of coaching Crosby is real. In many ways, he’s a coach’s dream. You don’t need to worry about the state of the locker room when Crosby is your captain.
And yes, there are only 32 NHL head-coaching jobs, and Pittsburgh is among the world’s great hockey towns. There will be interest.
However, I can’t recall a time at any point this century when this job came with so many concerns. You can already hear pundits saying that their hire won’t be the coach to lead them to championships — that they’re a transitional coach.
Who wants to be that coach?
Sure, it still pays well. It looks good on a resume, too, even if you may not be remembered as a winning coach.
This is a very complex situation. Selling this job is dicey for Dubas, who wants to highlight the role’s plusses but can’t deny what comes with a methodical rebuild.
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Dubas has to identify a patient coach who can develop young talent and also mesh with Crosby. The future is what matters here, but Crosby is still the captain, best player and face of the franchise. While Crosby is coachable, finding someone who fits both the future-focused rebuild and the present-day needs of a generational star is no small task.
Dubas’ task of finding the right coach is difficult for all of the above reasons, but one reason is bigger than the rest: The right coach might simply find other NHL vacancies more appealing.
(Photos of Sidney Crosby and Kyle Dubas: Ethan Miller and Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)
This news was originally published on this post .
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