Josh Yohe of The Athletic said in a post that was released on Tuesday that Mike Sullivan, the head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins, never really considered joining the New Jersey Devils during the offseason.
Regarding Sullivan, Yohe remarked, “I don’t doubt the Devils would have liked to speak to him.” However, there’s no proof that Sullivan was considering it. You may argue for or against the Penguins keeping him on staff. I understand that many of his admirers are over him because 2017 seems like a long time ago. I wouldn’t, however, doubt his commitment to the Penguins. He seems to be fixated on winning this time around. He doesn’t seem to want to leave.”
Sullivan led the Penguins to Stanley Cup victories in 2016 and 2017, but earlier in the spring, he was connected to the Devils. In April, Kyle Dubas, the general manager and president of hockey operations for the Penguins, stated that there had “been no requests and no permissions granted” about the Devils potentially speaking with Sullivan. Sheldon Keefe was named the new head coach of New Jersey on Tuesday.
When NHL insider Frank Seravalli appeared on “The Daily Faceoff Live” on April 30, he stated, according to Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, that he believed there was “a bit of a power struggle ongoing between Kyle Dubas and Mike Sullivan.”
Seravalli continued, “Dubas would like to make changes to the coaching staff in the assistants, and Mike Sullivan has been resistant (to) that.”
On Tuesday, Yohe said that Seravalli’s assertion “was absolutely nothing.” Todd Reirden, the associate coach, was let go by the Penguins, effective of May 3.
Up until last spring, the Penguins’ playoff run was the longest currently running streak in North American sports, all because to Sullivan. This year, Pittsburgh was left out of the postseason tournament for the second consecutive year.
It makes sense that Yohe was questioned in his most recent mailbag about why the Penguins didn’t let Sullivan go, given that key players like defenseman Erik Karlsson, center Evgeni Malkin, captain Sidney Crosby, and defenseman Kris Letang aren’t getting any younger.
Ownership finds Sullivan appealing, according to Yohe. “Dubas finds him appealing. The stars think well of him. He is wearing two rings.
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