PITTSBURGH (AP) — Mike Sullivan’s nearly decade-long tenure running the Pittsburgh Penguins is over.
The team announced Monday that it was parting ways with the two-time Stanley Cup winning coach just over a week after the Penguins missed out on the playoffs for a third straight season.
Sullivan, whose 409 wins with Pittsburgh are a franchise record, led the Penguins to back-to-back championships in 2016 and 2017 and had two more years left on the contract extension he signed in 2022. The 57-year-old had said recently that he wanted to remain with the club as it tries to retool around future Hall of Famer Sidney Crosby.
General manager Kyle Dubas was a bit more cautious last week, saying that he and Sullivan planned to meet to ensure their visions of the team’s future remained aligned. Dubas, in a statement announcing the decision to move on, said it wasn’t one the club took lightly.
“As we continue to navigate the Penguins through this transitional period, we felt it was the best course forward for all involved,” Dubas said.
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Will Graves, The Associated Press
