Examining candidates to replace Sullivan behind bench
The search for the next Penguins head coach is underway after the team parted ways with Mike Sullivan on Monday.
Kyle Dubas said after the move that they will "cast a wide net on this search -- long-time head coaches, coaches from Europe, coaches from junior, college, etc."
Dubas also noted that in "similar settings" to this one, the coaches who have found success have "generally been coaches in their first chance at it." That suggests that the Penguins aren't aiming for a "retread," or at least not a recent retread fresh on the coaching carousel after just getting fired elsewhere in the league.
Who replaces Sullivan behind the bench? Here are five candidates to ponder given what Dubas has said about what they're looking for.
SAM HALLAM
When Dubas mentioned Europe as a possible source for the next coach of the Penguins, Sam Hallam should immediately be at the top of the list of European candidates.
Hallam, 45, has been the head coach of the Swedish men's national team for the last three years, and will continue to do so at this year's World Championships and next year's Olympics. He previously spent 10 years as the head coach of the SHL's Vaxjo Lakers where he led the team to titles in 2015, 2018 and 2021.
Not that the team should be building solely around Erik Karlsson, but Dubas mentioned the 4 Nations Face-Off as an example of there being another level to Karlsson's game that they're still trying to reach themselves. Karlsson's coach in the tournament was Hallam.
Hallam drew a lot of attention during that tournament as a potential future NHL coach, and he was asked about the possibility during the tournament.
"I think up until I was about 15, I dreamt of playing in the NHL," he said with a grin. "Then other guys skated faster than me. I think everyone in the business wants to be in the NHL where the best are. You have to be honest about if I want to get a chance to coach in the NHL, you probably have to go the long way around and come over and start in the AHL just like most of the players do. Am I ready to do that? Coaching in Sweden, in Europe, you have it pretty good. Great player, great venues, big crowds. One day, I dream of being in the NHL if I make that jump. Soon, or later? I don't know. But you want to be with the best."
DAVID CARLE
David Carle is at the top of a lot of lists for potential jobs around the league, and for good reason.
Carle is young at 35, but he's been coaching since 2008, when he was forced to retire as a player at 18 after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at the draft combine. Slated to play at the University of Denver the following season, the program honored his scholarship and had him join the hockey team as an assistant coach. After his four years of school were up, he spent a year and a half as an assistant coach with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers before going back to Denver as a full-time assistant coach.
Carle was promoted to the University of Denver's head coach in 2018, and has led the team two two NCAA championships (2022, 2024) in seven years, and just this season reached the Frozen Four. He has also been coach of Team USA at the World Junior Championship for the last two years, winning back-to-back golds.
Two of Carle's championships were with some of the Penguins' top forward prospects, winning with Tristan Broz at Denver and Rutger McGroarty at the World Junior Championship.
Carle started receiving serious consideration for an NHL coaching job in 2024 but didn't have much interest in leaving Denver and losing the job stability and security he had at the time. Elliotte Friedman reported this week that Carle withdrew from consideration from the Blackhawks' opening and was "likely" to return to Denver. But if the Penguins could lure him to Pittsburgh
MITCH LOVE
Dubas has managed to talk about the success of the Capitals and how their retool is the path they'd like to emulate just about every time he's had a press conference for the last year and a half. It wouldn't be surprising to see him poach someone from the Capitals staff.
Love, 40, has been the Capitals assistant coach focusing on the defense for the last two years. Prior to being hired by the Capitals he spent two years as the head coach of the Flames' AHL affiliate, winning the league's award for the top coach in both seasons.
Prior to his time in the AHL, Love spent three years as the head coach of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades.
Love certainly checks the boxes -- having a resume of development experience and at the NHL level with the team whose rebuild Dubas would like to model.
As a player, Love was a tough guy who brought physicality, agitation and wasn't afraid to drop the gloves. He racked up 901 penalty minutes in his five seasons of WHL hockey, a career total that ranks 31st in league history and has not been surpassed by any player to come through the league since Love. He once had a season in junior with 40 fights, and another in the AHL with 34 fights.
TODD NELSON
If poaching a member of the Capitals' staff is a path they want to take, the back-to-back Calder Cup champion coach wouldn't be a bad option.
Nelson, 55, is in his third season as the head coach of the AHL's Hershey Bears, winning the championship in his first two years with the team. The Bears finished this regular season as the second-best team in the league and are currently in the second round of the playoffs.
Before joining the Bears, Nelson spent four seasons as an assistant coach in the NHL with the Stars from 2018-22, coaching the defense and power play.
Nelson's previous stops include an assistant coaching position with the AHL's Grand Rapid Griffins in 2002-03, the head coach of the Muskegon Fury from 2003-06 in the former minor-league UHL, assistant coach of the AHL's Chicago Wolves from 2006-08, and assistant coach of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2008-10. He was head coach of the AHL's Oklahoma City Barons, the Oilers' AHL affiliate, from 2010-15 and served as interim head coach of the Oilers during the 2014-15 season. He spent three years in the AHL coaching Grand Rapids again from 2015-18, winning the Calder Cup in 2017, before joining the Stars.
Nelson was the Penguins' fourth-round pick in 1989. He played three years in the Penguins' organization, only suiting up for one game with the Penguins in 1991-92. It was a 2-2 tie with the Islanders at the Civic Arena.
DAVID QUINN
I know, I know. Technically a "retread" after just being coach of the Sharks two years ago. But he's the lone member of the coaching staff now still under contract. They didn't move on from him on Monday, and Dubas outright mentioned him when asked of the possibility of internal promotions, saying he has "deep, deep experience at this level." So, it would be foolish to assume that he won't at least get a look.
The reasons behind Dubas' decision to move on from Sullivan weren't so much style-based, and more so just thinking it was time for a change, citing how there just aren't examples of a coach winning with a team, sticking around through a rebuild and the transition that followed, and coaching the same team up to a championship again. So Quinn being part of Sullivan' staff for only one season doesn't exactly run counter to the goal.
Some form of development experience is a prerequisite for the job, and Quinn does have that, most recently as the head coach of Boston University from 2013-18, winning the Hockey East title three times and winning Hockey East Coach of the Year once. Among his coaching highlights at the development level also includes a three-year stint in the AHL as head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters from 2009-12.
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THE ASYLUM
Taylor Haase
11:02 pm - 04.28.2025Cranberry, Pa.Examining candidates to replace Sullivan behind bench
The search for the next Penguins head coach is underway after the team parted ways with Mike Sullivan on Monday.
Kyle Dubas said after the move that they will "cast a wide net on this search -- long-time head coaches, coaches from Europe, coaches from junior, college, etc."
Dubas also noted that in "similar settings" to this one, the coaches who have found success have "generally been coaches in their first chance at it." That suggests that the Penguins aren't aiming for a "retread," or at least not a recent retread fresh on the coaching carousel after just getting fired elsewhere in the league.
Who replaces Sullivan behind the bench? Here are five candidates to ponder given what Dubas has said about what they're looking for.
SAM HALLAM
When Dubas mentioned Europe as a possible source for the next coach of the Penguins, Sam Hallam should immediately be at the top of the list of European candidates.
Hallam, 45, has been the head coach of the Swedish men's national team for the last three years, and will continue to do so at this year's World Championships and next year's Olympics. He previously spent 10 years as the head coach of the SHL's Vaxjo Lakers where he led the team to titles in 2015, 2018 and 2021.
Not that the team should be building solely around Erik Karlsson, but Dubas mentioned the 4 Nations Face-Off as an example of there being another level to Karlsson's game that they're still trying to reach themselves. Karlsson's coach in the tournament was Hallam.
Hallam drew a lot of attention during that tournament as a potential future NHL coach, and he was asked about the possibility during the tournament.
"I think up until I was about 15, I dreamt of playing in the NHL," he said with a grin. "Then other guys skated faster than me. I think everyone in the business wants to be in the NHL where the best are. You have to be honest about if I want to get a chance to coach in the NHL, you probably have to go the long way around and come over and start in the AHL just like most of the players do. Am I ready to do that? Coaching in Sweden, in Europe, you have it pretty good. Great player, great venues, big crowds. One day, I dream of being in the NHL if I make that jump. Soon, or later? I don't know. But you want to be with the best."
DAVID CARLE
David Carle is at the top of a lot of lists for potential jobs around the league, and for good reason.
Carle is young at 35, but he's been coaching since 2008, when he was forced to retire as a player at 18 after being diagnosed with hypertrophic cardiomyopathy at the draft combine. Slated to play at the University of Denver the following season, the program honored his scholarship and had him join the hockey team as an assistant coach. After his four years of school were up, he spent a year and a half as an assistant coach with the USHL's Green Bay Gamblers before going back to Denver as a full-time assistant coach.
Carle was promoted to the University of Denver's head coach in 2018, and has led the team two two NCAA championships (2022, 2024) in seven years, and just this season reached the Frozen Four. He has also been coach of Team USA at the World Junior Championship for the last two years, winning back-to-back golds.
Two of Carle's championships were with some of the Penguins' top forward prospects, winning with Tristan Broz at Denver and Rutger McGroarty at the World Junior Championship.
Carle started receiving serious consideration for an NHL coaching job in 2024 but didn't have much interest in leaving Denver and losing the job stability and security he had at the time. Elliotte Friedman reported this week that Carle withdrew from consideration from the Blackhawks' opening and was "likely" to return to Denver. But if the Penguins could lure him to Pittsburgh
MITCH LOVE
Dubas has managed to talk about the success of the Capitals and how their retool is the path they'd like to emulate just about every time he's had a press conference for the last year and a half. It wouldn't be surprising to see him poach someone from the Capitals staff.
Love, 40, has been the Capitals assistant coach focusing on the defense for the last two years. Prior to being hired by the Capitals he spent two years as the head coach of the Flames' AHL affiliate, winning the league's award for the top coach in both seasons.
Prior to his time in the AHL, Love spent three years as the head coach of the WHL's Saskatoon Blades.
Love certainly checks the boxes -- having a resume of development experience and at the NHL level with the team whose rebuild Dubas would like to model.
As a player, Love was a tough guy who brought physicality, agitation and wasn't afraid to drop the gloves. He racked up 901 penalty minutes in his five seasons of WHL hockey, a career total that ranks 31st in league history and has not been surpassed by any player to come through the league since Love. He once had a season in junior with 40 fights, and another in the AHL with 34 fights.
TODD NELSON
If poaching a member of the Capitals' staff is a path they want to take, the back-to-back Calder Cup champion coach wouldn't be a bad option.
Nelson, 55, is in his third season as the head coach of the AHL's Hershey Bears, winning the championship in his first two years with the team. The Bears finished this regular season as the second-best team in the league and are currently in the second round of the playoffs.
Before joining the Bears, Nelson spent four seasons as an assistant coach in the NHL with the Stars from 2018-22, coaching the defense and power play.
Nelson's previous stops include an assistant coaching position with the AHL's Grand Rapid Griffins in 2002-03, the head coach of the Muskegon Fury from 2003-06 in the former minor-league UHL, assistant coach of the AHL's Chicago Wolves from 2006-08, and assistant coach of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2008-10. He was head coach of the AHL's Oklahoma City Barons, the Oilers' AHL affiliate, from 2010-15 and served as interim head coach of the Oilers during the 2014-15 season. He spent three years in the AHL coaching Grand Rapids again from 2015-18, winning the Calder Cup in 2017, before joining the Stars.
Nelson was the Penguins' fourth-round pick in 1989. He played three years in the Penguins' organization, only suiting up for one game with the Penguins in 1991-92. It was a 2-2 tie with the Islanders at the Civic Arena.
DAVID QUINN
I know, I know. Technically a "retread" after just being coach of the Sharks two years ago. But he's the lone member of the coaching staff now still under contract. They didn't move on from him on Monday, and Dubas outright mentioned him when asked of the possibility of internal promotions, saying he has "deep, deep experience at this level." So, it would be foolish to assume that he won't at least get a look.
The reasons behind Dubas' decision to move on from Sullivan weren't so much style-based, and more so just thinking it was time for a change, citing how there just aren't examples of a coach winning with a team, sticking around through a rebuild and the transition that followed, and coaching the same team up to a championship again. So Quinn being part of Sullivan' staff for only one season doesn't exactly run counter to the goal.
Some form of development experience is a prerequisite for the job, and Quinn does have that, most recently as the head coach of Boston University from 2013-18, winning the Hockey East title three times and winning Hockey East Coach of the Year once. Among his coaching highlights at the development level also includes a three-year stint in the AHL as head coach of the Lake Erie Monsters from 2009-12.
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