Inside Kyle Dubas’ quiet, unusual search for next Penguins coach

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STOCKHOLM — Team Canada’s practice was concluding on Friday at the World Championship in Sweden when the team’s general manager, Kyle Dubas, sprinted toward the exit of the Hovet Arena.

He needed to return to his hotel room.

“Zoom meeting, 4 o’clock,” he yelled. “Gotta run. See you tomorrow.”

Dubas is pulling double duty: strengthening his relationship with Team Canada while tending to the present and future of his Pittsburgh Penguins by searching for their next coach.

He is isolated in Sweden — far away from coaching candidates, far away from Penguins assistant GM Jason Spezza — left to find his next coach on a schedule six hours ahead of Eastern Time.

What seems like a logistical nightmare, Dubas insists, has become something quite different.

“I was a little bit worried about that before being here,” the Penguins president and GM said. “I was worried about being in Sweden, doing these interviews on Zoom, all of it.”

Not anymore.

Dubas realized that research, execution and, ultimately, a decision require precisely the peace and quiet that Sweden has provided.

“I’ve actually found that being here has allowed the process to be much better than at any other time in my career that I’ve been involved in something like this,” he explained. “So, you’re six hours ahead of everyone in Pittsburgh and on the East Coast, nine hours ahead of people on the West Coast that you may want to speak with.”

Dubas wakes up around 6 a.m. in Sweden at a time when most of his world is just falling asleep.

“My phone doesn’t pick up until noon or 1 p.m.,” he said. “It’s actually nice. It means I have a full morning with no distractions, to kind of do your homework on people, your due diligence. It gives me more time to prepare the questions I truly want to ask people, to get ready for the interviews in a way that I might not have been able to if I were back home.”

As Dubas does his due diligence, a timeline is emerging. Four coaching positions remain open across the NHL: the Penguins, the Chicago Blackhawks, the Boston Bruins and the Seattle Kraken. The Penguins don’t expect to name a coach for a couple more weeks.

“I’m planning on bringing the final candidates to Pittsburgh in the last week of May,” Dubas said.

The World Championship final is on Sunday. Dubas flies back to Pittsburgh the next day, which is May 26.

“My plan is to have a new head coach in place by June 1,” Dubas said. “It’s not so much about having a coach in place for the NHL Draft (June 27) as it is having a coach in place for our pro scouting meetings in mid-June. That’s the thing that’s really important.

“One thing I’m doing in these interviews is I’m asking people for their feelings on our roster. Asking about specific players. I want a new coach to feel comfortable with the roster and confident in voicing opinions on the roster. I want our scouts to give their views, a new coach to give views. I have my views. I want everyone to get their views out there and I want a new coach in place to take part in that. I think it’s very important, very beneficial.”

So June 1— Dubas’ second anniversary of joining the Penguins — appears to be the deadline.

“That’s the goal, June 1,” he said. “Go to the combine (NHL Draft combine in Buffalo, June 4-10). Then come home, take care of media stuff with the new coach.”

Dubas is highly aware Mike Sullivan will always be a giant in Penguins history and that his dismissal was a seismic decision.

He said he still has a good relationship with Sullivan but that it was in everyone’s best interest for Sullivan to move on to the New York Rangers.

“Sully is wired in a certain way,” Dubas said. “He’s a great coach and he’s a coach of contending teams. That’s who he is. When you’re in that mode, you always want to win. You need to win. That’s why the Rangers got him. That’s the mode they’re in. We’re in a different spot.”

It’s fair to wonder if the Penguins’ distance from contention will scare off coaching candidates. Dubas insists he’s seen no evidence of that.

“Not that I’ve been told,” he said. “No one has voiced concern about that, and I think I know why. I have been very, very honest with people about what we are.”

The Penguins are in some form of rebuilding, which Dubas insists will be an “urgent” process because he, Sidney Crosby and fans are all getting tired of losing.

Dubas believes in building his teams a certain way, and it’s not through spending loads of money when unrestricted free agency begins July 1. He wants to acquire young players in trades and load up on draft picks and prospects.

“I don’t just want to get to the point where we are a championship contender,” Dubas said. “I want to arrive there, and then I want us to stay there for a very long time. That’s what the people in Pittsburgh are used to. That’s what they deserve. That’s what we want and we’re doing everything in our power to make it happen.”

Dubas is in the later stages of his first wave of interviews.

“There are still some guys coaching in the American Hockey League and for different NHL teams that have interest, and we are interested in them, too,” Dubas said.

After the relative quiet of morning, afternoon business arrives in Sweden. Dubas juggles his Team Canada responsibilities with Penguins coaching interviews. He also takes the time to catch up on the NHL playoff games happening back in North America. In the evening, he sometimes catches up on sleep.

Then the morning strikes again, and Dubas, who was hired in Pittsburgh to orchestrate this rebuild, lets his mind go to work.

“It’s been a blessing being over here,” he said. “It really has. Zoom isn’t as good as in-person, but it’s fine. I’m getting to work and focus on this in a different kind of way. It’s been so beneficial.”

As he said, Dubas is considering coaches from the NHL, AHL and other leagues around the world. Mitch Love, an assistant with the Washington Capitals, is a front-runner for the job. Others are in contention.

No matter what, the decision belongs to one man.

“I’ve been very happy with the coaches I’ve talked to so far,” Dubas said. “Extremely. I’ve been very impressed. I want to find the right person not only for right now, but for the future. That’s my only plan.”

(Photo: Bruce Bennett / Getty Images)

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