Speculation: Who will be the next head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins?

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

...and then there is Josh Yohe.

Who is probably still unaware that Riverboat Ricky was already hired and is still pumping his tires for the Penguins job as we speak.

 

[HandshakeLine]

I will be happy as long as we're not playing neutral zone trap or whatever Sullivan's "system" was.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

Feel like at this point, as long as it’s not DJ Smith or Quinn, I’ll be happy.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Love and Sturm are finalists in Boston, per Fluto Shinzawa, who is usually a pretty solid Boston reporter for The Athletic.

 

[SEALBound]

Guys, this is it. This is it. This is the Dubas decision and thread where we all finally have to bend the knee and tell ol Gurgsy he was right.

You were soooooooo right about everything Gurgs! We didn't listen. We didn't listen! Everything is coming to fruition and we are the unfortunate souls that have to now reap what we sow. What a painful existence this will be! If only we listened!

Now we have to deal with...I'm not sure what. Honestly, I'm kinda lost on the Dubas dumping on this one by Gurgs but, guys, guys....he's totally right.

Love and Sturm are finalists in Boston, per Fluto Shinzawa, who is usually a pretty solid Boston reporter for The Athletic.

I'd be fine with either. If you are, say Love, and you get offered both Boston and Pittsburgh, I wonder which one would be more appealing?

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I'd be fine with either. If you are, say Love, and you get offered both Boston and Pittsburgh, I wonder which one would be more appealing?

Boston says they want to compete this coming season. Pittsburgh says they're building for the long haul.

Personally, I don't buy that Don Sweeney can right the ship like he says the Bruins can. I think their issues run deeper than they want to believe. That puts immediate pressure on the coach, too. And if Sweeney doesn't turn things around, he'll be fired or allowed to have his contract expire in three years. That means the coach is gone, too.

With the Penguins, there's a longer leash. No pressure to win right away. Build and grow. But that might mean some early losing. And it can be tough to be patient, allow players to develop, and then be the guy to go to the whip and hold players to higher expectations when it's time to win. It's essentially what DJ Smith ran into in Ottawa - he was the developer, but they needed someone different to get them into the playoffs.

I'd personally take Pittsburgh, but that's solely because I believe Boston is a house of cards that's one stiff breeze from collapsing and being bad for years.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

On one hand, the Bruins are more likely to sneak back into the playoffs next year than us. On the other hand, if the Bruins decide to pivot to a rebuild, we’re a little farther along than them.

 

[Sidney the Kidney]

I will be happy as long as we're not playing neutral zone trap or whatever Sullivan's "system" was.

You know what's weird? Sullivan's system seemed to require being aggressive at the wrong times and be passive at the wrong time.

It's like in the defensive zone and they all swarm to the corner and leave opponents wide open in front of the net was way too aggressive and required more of a passive guard the front of the net style, while often we dump pucks into corners when we have full possession in a more "passive" style rather than hold onto the puck and gain the O-zone with possession.

It's like his "system" emphasized the wrong times to be aggressive and the wrong times to be passive.

 

[Empoleon8771]

To be fair to @Gurglesons, there is definitely a groundswell of social media support for Love that is entirely based around Dubas' references to the Capitals' turnaround and Love's role in that. I don't think they're even aware that he coached in juniors and they're only marginally aware of his work in the AHL.

They heard the name, saw he's a former enforcer who has worked with the Caps defense, and they're sold because Dubas is making the pick.

Ah okay that would make sense then. I thought it was more well known that he was viewed as a very good coach in juniors and had a lot of success in the AHL with Hersey.

 

[HandshakeLine]

You know what's weird? Sullivan's system seemed to require being aggressive at the wrong times and be passive at the wrong time.

It's like in the defensive zone and they all swarm to the corner and leave opponents wide open in front of the net was way too aggressive and required more of a passive guard the front of the net style, while often we dump pucks into corners when we have full possession in a more "passive" style rather than hold onto the puck and gain the O-zone with possession.

It's like his "system" emphasized the wrong times to be aggressive and the wrong times to be passive.

It is perplexing how weirdly complicated and yet stupid our system, if it was one, was.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

On one hand, the Bruins are more likely to sneak back into the playoffs next year than us. On the other hand, if the Bruins decide to pivot to a rebuild, we’re a little farther along than them.

Outside of Pastrnak, the Bruins don't have much that impresses at forward. Lindholm's 42-goal season a few years ago looks like an outlier. Mittelstadt still hasn't hit 20 goals. Zacha is a complementary piece. Poitras, Minten and Lysell are interesting, but I'd argue that McGroarty and Koivunen are stronger prospects. McGroarty was the highest pick of the bunch, while Koivunen has made a bigger splash in the NHL in his limited appearances than those three.

Geekie is a UFA and an unknown. Is he the guy who scored 33 goals last year? Or the guy who scored 33 goals combined in the three seasons before that?

On defense, they have to hope McAvoy's problems are behind him, though that was a serious shoulder injury and infection to come back from. And Lindholm only played 17 games last year. And Swayman was Jarry-level last year.

They have cap space, but man...it's a lot of work in a short amount of time.

 

[SEALBound]

Boston says they want to compete this coming season. Pittsburgh says they're building for the long haul.

Personally, I don't buy that Don Sweeney can right the ship like he says the Bruins can. I think their issues run deeper than they want to believe. That puts immediate pressure on the coach, too. And if Sweeney doesn't turn things around, he'll be fired or allowed to have his contract expire in three years. That means the coach is gone, too.

With the Penguins, there's a longer leash. No pressure to win right away. Build and grow. But that might mean some early losing. And it can be tough to be patient, allow players to develop, and then be the guy to go to the whip and hold players to higher expectations when it's time to win. It's essentially what DJ Smith ran into in Ottawa - he was the developer, but they needed someone different to get them into the playoffs.

I'd personally take Pittsburgh, but that's solely because I believe Boston is a house of cards that's one stiff breeze from collapsing and being bad for years.

I don't know how you give away what they did and hope to be better? I don't think the FA market is there and there's relatively limited assets to trade with unless they are willing to discuss Lysell and TOR, FLA, and their own 1sts?

Like they need help everywhere except in goal but even that is iffy (not unlike it is for NYR). One injury to Swayman and thats a bottom 3 team.

 

[plaidchuck]

Can we hire a GM too?

You already got one, unless you really want another Burke to sit around and get paid for nothing

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

You already got one, unless you really want another Burke to sit around and get paid for nothing

Did you see that hair and the way he rakishly insisted on NOT tying his tie, though?

Burke's most notable contribution to this team might have been taking Broz aside and restoring his confidence. Other than that it seems like a weird fever dream that he was even here for a minute.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Has anyone spotted white smoke coming from PPG, or are we still in a holding pattern?

Zoom call having problems buffering.

 

[HandshakeLine]

Did you see that hair and the way he rakishly insisted on NOT tying his tie, though?

Burke's most notable contribution to this team might have been taking Broz aside and restoring his confidence. Other than that it seems like a weird fever dream that he was even here for a minute.

Barns remain unfought. Randy's dreams are dashed.

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

On one hand, the Bruins are more likely to sneak back into the playoffs next year than us. On the other hand, if the Bruins decide to pivot to a rebuild, we’re a little farther along than them.

The way they played the 2nd half of the season, I'd say there is a much better chance they're a lottery team again next season. I don't see how they can sneak in, even if they try to be aggressive in the FA market. They have way too many holes to fill up front and on D.

I wouldn't be surprised if they're are rumors to move Swayman and McAvoy to be honest on their part.

 

[Jesse]

You know what's weird? Sullivan's system seemed to require being aggressive at the wrong times and be passive at the wrong time.

It's like in the defensive zone and they all swarm to the corner and leave opponents wide open in front of the net was way too aggressive and required more of a passive guard the front of the net style, while often we dump pucks into corners when we have full possession in a more "passive" style rather than hold onto the puck and gain the O-zone with possession.

It's like his "system" emphasized the wrong times to be aggressive and the wrong times to be passive.

The Puck Side Overload we saw in the defensive zone this year ended up being okay by the end of the season but for 90% of it they forgot to do the most important part of the entire system. It's confounding to me.

When the puck side changes, you have to swap your overload (obviously). The Penguins simply could not pull that transition off. Whether it be fumbling the handoff of who had the most important assignment in the structure (slot protection), or mis-committing resources to the wrong places, it took like 70+ games for them to figure it out. Sometimes, the player identified as the slot protection (again, literally the only guy available to protect the highest danger area of the ice) would just inexplicably collapse behind the net.

The two most confusing things to me in the history of hockey are:

1. What was Mike Johnston doing as head coach
and
2. What was happening behind closed doors in those D-Zone meetings this season and how did it not get addressed for such a painfully obvious long time?

 

[DesertedPenguin]

It should be abundantly clear to folks by now that there will not be news from the Penguins until they announce it themselves. Nearly every major personnel move has not leaked beforehand, including the Sullivan firing. Even trades aren't leaked until they get to the central office registry stage.

 

[Jared Grayden]

It should be abundantly clear to folks by now that there will not be news from the Penguins until they announce it themselves. Nearly every major personnel move has not leaked beforehand, including the Sullivan firing. Even trades aren't leaked until they get to the central office registry stage.

I thought Friedman leaked Sullivan's departure before any official press release?

 

[HandshakeLine]

Old men leak a lot of things.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

It should be abundantly clear to folks by now that there will not be news from the Penguins until they announce it themselves. Nearly every major personnel move has not leaked beforehand, including the Sullivan firing. Even trades aren't leaked until they get to the central office registry stage.

Penguins themselves were the first to announce the Dubas hire before anyone else.

 

[JRS91]

I think it's going to be Jay Woodcroft.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

I thought Friedman leaked Sullivan's departure before any official press release?

Nope.

Pens at 9:01 a.m.


Friedge at 9:02 a.m.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Penguins themselves were the first to announce the Dubas hire before anyone else.

Yup. That said, it was long expected...but no one had confirmation that it was actually happening or when it was a done deal until suddenly it was announced.

It's harder with trades because agents get involved and multiple teams are involved, plus the central registry is involved. Same with free agent signings.

But even the Letang thing was kept quiet until it was announced he had surgery.