Two-time Stanley Cup-winning coach Mike Sullivan and the Pittsburgh Penguins agreed to part ways Monday after the team missed the playoffs for the third consecutive season.
Sullivan won Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, had a franchise-best 409 regular-season wins and a .602 points percentage in the regular season. But the Penguins haven’t won a playoff series since 2018 and haven’t been to the postseason since 2022.
He leaves with two years left on his contract but will be pursued by NHL teams with coaching vacancies this summer.
Sullivan ‘will forever be an enormous part of Penguins history, not only for the impressive back-to-back Cups, his impact on the core of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Bryan Rust, but more importantly, for his love and loyalty to the organization,’ Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas said in a statement. ‘This was not a decision that was taken lightly, but as we continue to navigate the Penguins through this transitional period, we felt it was the best course forward for all involved.”
The Penguins changed upper management in the 2023 offseason after the NHL’s then-longest active playoff streak ended at 16 seasons. Dubas kept Sullivan on and took steps to aid the Penguins’ longtime core.
But despite Dubas trading for Norris Trophy winner Erik Karlsson and rebuilding the bottom six forward group, the Penguins never got on track last season until a late run that left them just short. Particularly perplexing was a power play that ranked 30th in the league despite a strong season by Crosby.
The Penguins signed Crosby to a two-year extension, and he broke Wayne Gretzky’s record with a 20th season averaging at least a point per game.
The team didn’t fare any better this season, falling 6-0 to the New York Rangers at home during the opener. Pittsburgh got its record to 3-2, then began a 0-5-1 slide and never got more than one game above .500 during the season. Though the power play improved, the team ranked 29th in the league in five-on-five goal differential and had the fourth-worst goals-against average.
The Penguins were eliminated with 10 days left in the regular season.
Previous GM Ron Hextall had signed Sullivan to a three-year extension that started this season and runs through 2026-27. He had been head coach since replacing Mike Johnston in the middle of the 2015-16 season and leading the team to a title that June.
Sullivan was coach of the USA’s 4 Nations Face-Off team that finished second to Canada and has been named U.S. coach at the 2026 Olympics.
Which NHL teams have coaching vacancies?
The Rangers, Seattle Kraken and Anaheim Ducks have fired their coaches this offseason and the Boston Bruins have begun a coaching search. The Philadelphia Flyers and Chicago Blackhawks finished the season with interim coaches.