Penguins GM addresses Mike Sullivan, Devils rumors

Pittsburgh Penguins president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas seemingly slammed the door shut on head coach Mike Sullivan possibly leaving the organization to join the New Jersey Devils this offseason.

"There have been no requests and no permissions granted," Dubas told Rob Rossi of The Athletic about whether the Devils have reached out to the Penguins about speaking with Sullivan regarding New Jersey's coaching search.

Nick Kypreos of the Toronto Star recently said that "rumors of Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan leaving Pittsburgh to join close friend (and Devils president of hockey operations/general manager) Tom Fitzgerald in New Jersey won’t dissipate." 

Kypreos added that such a switch "could simply come down to Sullivan’s lack of confidence in GM Dubas' ability to contend anytime soon."

What had been the longest active playoff streak in North American sports ended last spring when Pittsburgh failed to qualify for the postseason. Despite a late-season surge that included going 8-2-3 to finish the campaign, the 2023-24 Penguins also missed the playoffs. 

"A Devils source said New Jersey would have interest in Sullivan if he wasn’t under contract with the Penguins," Rossi said on Tuesday afternoon. Sullivan's three-year contract extension officially begins on July 1. 

The Penguins first promoted Sullivan from their American Hockey League affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to be their head coach in December 2015, and he guided the club to Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and in 2017. While it's routinely been reported that Sullivan has a positive relationship with Fenway Sports Group, which owns the Penguins, he nevertheless was linked with the New York Rangers last spring. That was before veterans such as captain Sidney Crosby, center Evgeni Malkin, defenseman Kris Letang and fellow defenseman Erik Karlsson all got a year older with little to show for it. 

As recently as Monday, Josh Yohe of The Athletic mentioned that Pittsburgh's core likely is staying intact through the summer. 

It's no secret that Crosby likely will sign a contract extension as soon as July. He and other veteran Pittsburgh players are big Sullivan supporters and presumably wouldn't love having to endure a coaching change with so much about the Penguins' long-term future up in the air.