PITTSBURGH — (AP) — Mike Sullivan's relentless intensity instantly ignited the Pittsburgh Penguins.
From one of his morning skates as Penguins head coach in December 2015, when his booming voice echoed throughout an empty Consol Energy Center (now PPG Paints Arena), through back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, to the penultimate practice of an otherwise lost season earlier this month, the fire may have occasionally flickered but never threatened to go out.
Yet with the Penguins in the middle of an inevitable reset that has no tentative end date, general manager Kyle Dubas felt it simply was time to go in another direction, parting ways with Sullivan in something that felt less like a firing and more like a shift change.
“Sometimes the class needs a new professor,” Dubas said Monday. “And sometimes the professor needs a new class.”
The decision came after multiple postseason meetings between Dubas and Sullivan, the second one occurring in Sullivan's native Boston on Sunday. During a discussion that Dubas described as “amicable,” it became apparent to Dubas that Sullivan's many strengths might be better served leading a team that's not evolving from one generation to the next.
“There’s a reason why it’s essentially impossible, (why) it has not been done, where a coach has led a team to winning and being in contention and through a transition all the way back,” Dubas said. “And I think that two things can be true: That someone can be a great head coach and then they’ll move on to become a great coach on the next stop. And it could also be time for change here."
Sullivan, whose 409 wins with Pittsburgh are a franchise record, had two seasons remaining on the contract extension he signed in late 2022.
The 57-year-old, who will coach the United States at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics, might not be out of work in the NHL for long. There are a handful of open jobs, including with the New York Rangers and the Boston Bruins, both of whose profiles — a veteran team with Stanley Cup ambitions — are more in line with where Pittsburgh found itself when Sullivan replaced Mike Johnston in the early stages of the 2015-16 season.
The longtime NHL forward known for his defensive play brought a direct, no-nonsense approach that — combined with a series of shrewd moves by then-general manager Jim Rutherford — helped Pittsburgh become the first team in nearly two decades to raise the Stanley Cup in consecutive springs.
Sullivan also developed a deep bond with longtime captain Sidney Crosby and fellow franchise icons Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, repeatedly praising their leadership during the back half of a 16-year stretch in which the Penguins were playoff fixtures.
Crosby, coming off an NHL-record 20th straight season of averaging at least a point a game, hardly looks to be slowing down as he prepares for his third decade in the league. A notorious creature of habit, Crosby repeatedly backed Sullivan even as the Penguins faded into also-rans.
Dubas said he had a five-minute conversation with Crosby before meeting with Sullivan. Asked if he was concerned that Crosby, who turns 38 in August and has two years left on an extension he agreed to last September, may ask for a trade, Dubas flatly replied “no.”
Still, the move came somewhat as a surprise given Sullivan’s resume, his relationship with Crosby and the fact that Fenway Sports Group had made it clear since buying the team in late 2021 how fond it was of the Boston University forward who forged an 11-year NHL career built more on grit and an innate intelligence above all else.
Yet the success that came so easily during the early days of Sullivan’s tenure faded as the core grew older and the front office — first Rutherford, who left in early 2021, then his replacement Ron Hextall, who lasted a little more than two years before being fired — was unable to find the right pieces to fill out a roster that quickly became old and top heavy.
Pittsburgh narrowly missed the postseason in 2023. The franchise missed it by a little more in 2024, and a little more still this year, undone by a combination of shaky goaltending and even shakier defense.
Yet a week ago, Dubas said that as long as Sullivan was all in on the team's commitment to look to the future, “we will roll with that.”
Pressed on what changed in the interim, Dubas did not point to one specific moment. The reality is he had seen signs that a change might be needed throughout the season, and they were reinforced during their recent meetings.
“Part of the reaffirmation of where we’re at is, is he still up for this? Does he want to go through this? Where does he sense it’s at, and what’s his energy and passion for?" Dubas said.
Dubas added that in “a perfect world,” they could have found a way forward. This isn't that.
“I think it’s just in general the feeling that the demands of this and what we’re asking, it was, to me, time for him to go elsewhere to apply and for us to move on as well,” he said.
There appears to be no hurry to find Sullivan's successor. Dubas expects to line up virtual interviews with candidates at the end of May, with the hope of making a hire by early June.
The next Penguins coach will take over a club that has 30 draft picks over the next three years, including 18 in the first three rounds. Turning those picks into viable NHL players — either by using them to draft players or as trade bait for teams willing to part with current NHLers in their early to mid-20s — will be Dubas' challenge.
Turning whatever group arrives for training camp in September back to relevancy will be the challenge of a coach who will have to replace someone hired to give an underachieving group a wake-up call and who left with a Hall of Fame-worthy resume and his spot in Penguins lore secure.
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