The Pittsburgh Penguins have signed head coach Mike Sullivan to an extension, ensuring he won’t be a lame duck.
While it may be a summer of a few changes in Pittsburgh, some things are staying the same for the Pittsburgh Penguins. The most important of the constants remaining as we enter into next season is their bench boss. Mike Sullivan is here to stay.
The Penguins announced on Friday that head coach Mike Sullivan has been resigned to a contract extension. The term of the extension is four years, which would keep him in Pittsburgh until the end of the 2022-2023 season.
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Sullivan took over as Pittsburgh’s head coach in December 2015 after the Penguins fired Mike Johnston. Prior to that, Sullivan coached the Penguins AHL affiliate in Scranton-Wilkes Barre and the Boston Bruins.
Sullivan’s along with general manager Jim Rutherford’s, contribution to the Penguins is usually undervalued. Although the Penguins have been a consistent threat since drafting Sidney Crosby, and they haven’t missed the playoffs since 2007, they had little to show for it.
After back to back finals appearances, and a win over the Detroit Red Wings for the Penguin’s third Stanley Cup championship, the franchise was marred by stellar regular season performances, but lackluster playoff results in the years that followed.
After being swept in the 2013 Eastern Conference finals, then general manager Ray Shero and head coach Dan Bylsma were sent packing in a change of guard that saw Rutherford and Sullivan take the reins.
The success that should come with a team that has the talent of Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Marc-Andre Fleury still eluded them, but that all changed when Sullivan was hired. Immediately after hiring, he led the Penguins to back to back Stanley Cup championships. Over that time span, he’s also become the third most winning coach in Penguins history.
There’s no doubt the last year has been disappointing for Penguins fans, as their season ended at the hands of a sweep by the New York Islanders in the playoff’s opening round. That and the fact they were dangerously close to missing the playoffs at points during this season.
Changes were sure to have been coming, especially with the long-anticipated Phil Kessel trade that saw him shipped to the Arizona Coyotes. No matter what other changes happen in Pittsburgh this off-season, holding onto Sullivan was a wise move.