The Pittsburgh Penguins were not asked for permission, nor were they given permission, for the New Jersey Devils to speak to head coach Mike Sullivan, president of hockey operations said Tuesday and Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas.
“There was no request nor permission granted,” Dubas said in a text message to Athleticism.
A Devils source said New Jersey would be interested in Sullivan if he was not under contract with the Penguins.
Sullivan’s three-year extension, which would pay him $5.5 million per year, will begin with the start of the new NHL season on July 1.
Sullivan has coached the Penguins since December 2015, when he was promoted from AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton to replace Mike Johnston in Pittsburgh. The Penguins won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and 2017, and Sullivan has since set the franchise record for regular season wins.
Since becoming coach of the Penguins, Sullivan has not publicly expressed interest in other jobs.
He agreed to his current extension under the Penguins’ previous leadership, despite being known to be close to senior officials at Fenway Sports Group, which owns the club.
Dubas was hired in June 2023, replacing Brian Burke as president of hockey operations and later assuming the general manager role held by Ron Hextall.
Retaining Sullivan was not a prerequisite for Dubas to accept the job, but he repeatedly praised Sullivan’s work and said Sullivan was the right coach for the Penguins.
“I think we’re very lucky to have Mike,” Dubas said in December. “Do I think he is the right person now and in the future? I absolutely do.
The Penguins opted this week not to renew the contracts of two AHL coaches whose contracts were set to expire. The status of Sullivan’s two most high-profile assistants in the NHL — associate coach Todd Reirden and assistant coach Mike Vellucci — is not yet known. Reirden and Vellucci signed two-year contracts in August 2022, and those contracts are set to expire.
What is Sullivan’s connection to New Jersey?
Devils president of hockey operations and general manager Tom Fitzgerald, like Sullivan, is from the Boston area.
Fitzgerald worked for the Penguins in various hockey operations roles, including assistant general manager, from 2007 to 2015, when he joined the Devils under their former general manager Ray Shero, who had hired in Pittsburgh.
Nick Kypreos, Toronto Star columnist, recently wrote about rumors that Sullivan would join Fitzgerald with the Devils.
“Rumors that Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan is leaving Pittsburgh to join his close friend Tom Fitzgerald in New Jersey will not go away,” Kypreos wrote.
Fitzgerald is conducting a coaching search and has already begun interviewing candidates, the Devils source said.
What do the players think of Sullivan?
The well-respected Sullivan has the Penguins’ most important support: captain Sidney Crosby.
With Crosby eligible to sign a new contract on July 1, it’s reasonable to assume that he would want the coach with whom he had the greatest team success to remain in the fold.
However, Sullivan is more highly regarded than Crosby. Sullivan has strong relationships with fellow franchise mainstays Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, as well as veterans such as Bryan Rust and Marcus Pettersson.
The Penguins have missed the playoffs the past two seasons after qualifying for 16 straight years. Last season, a promising power play significantly underperformed, contributing to the Penguins once again being just shy of the playoffs.
But the Penguins have been playing their best hockey in recent weeks. They were 8-2-3 down the stretch, thanks in part to Crosby and Malkin, strong performances from young players such as Drew O’Connor, as well as backup goaltender Alex Nedeljkovic.
(Photo by Mike Sullivan: Winslow Townson/Getty Images)