Kyle Dubas met with reporters at the UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex on Monday following the news that the team and Mike Sullivan mutually agreed to part ways. Here is the full transcript from the session.

Dubas: "Obviously, the news of the day is that after I think, very careful consideration, discussion, deliberation, that we've parted ways with head coach Mike Sullivan. What I'll first say is that Sully, I think, means a great deal to a lot of the people in this room (referring to the entire hockey operations staff standing in the back), a great deal to the community, and will move on from the Penguins having left a truly incredible mark on the franchise, the winningest coach in team history, two Stanley Cup championships. But I think beyond the success on the bench and what it led to on the ice for the city of Pittsburgh and for the fan base is the mark that he's made on the people here, which which I've got to see and experience firsthand the last two years, the impact on their careers, the impact on their families, and what he means to them. And then also in my conversations with him the last week, I think with what the city of Pittsburgh, the franchise and the people here mean to him, that's what makes these moments and times very difficult. I'll let Sully speak to that when he deems the right time to do it. From my vantage point here, my full intention when coming into the job was that I thought it was a great opportunity to work with one of, if not the best head coaches in the league to continue to give the team a chance to contend, and then transition it through back to contention. And I think what I've learned in the two years is that there's a reason why it's essentially impossible and has not been done where a coach has led a team to winning and being in contention, then through a transition all the way back. There's a number of factors that play in on the relationship side, with the players, with the staff, and that make it very difficult to do so. And I think that two things can be true, that someone could be a great head coach, and that they'll move on to become a great head coach on their next stop, and it could also be time for change here. And I think that is that was the conclusion that I come to. It had been something on my mind during the season. But I have great respect for Sully and just wanted to see it through the end of the year, then have a discussion with him at the end of the season, before our having discussions with him and then going through that together. So that is where we're at. Today, we will begin a very thorough and methodical search. To give you all the timeline, I see that being virtual interviews here over the next month, followed by in-person interviews at the end of May into early June, and then likely naming a head coach in early June that will lead the team forward. That may be delayed because some of the people, just very quickly starting to put together a list at the top folks, some of those people are employed either by top AHL teams or they're on NHL staffs as we speak right now, so that would be the only delay. To give you a preview of what we're about to undertake as it pertains to the remainder of the staff, there are three staff members who are coming to the end of their term on their contracts, Mike Vellucci, Ty Hennes and Andy Chiodo. I spoke with them yesterday, and believe it's most fair to allow the slate to be clean for a new head coach when they come in. And so the exact message given to them was that they are free immediately to begin their own search for their next spot. But if they would like to wait for us to name a new head coach, I could promise them an audience with them as well, and the remainder of the staff remains under contract and with the team. And that is the full update for the Penguins' coaches room in the hockey operations side, and I will turn it over to questions."

Question: "When did this come together with Mike, and was it sort of a mutual decision?"

Dubas: "Obviously, I talked to him every day throughout the year, worked together every day throughout the year, and there were times throughout the year where I started to think that it may just be time for a number of reasons. It's a lot to ask of somebody when they've done such a long and successful job here, to be managing that and be continuing to transition the team through. If you go back and look off the top of my head, I think I don't know that there's a there's a coach in the NHL that's done that. Maybe point to Lindy Ruff's late 90s Sabres rebuild. But then you come out of the lockout in a different system, salary cap era and their rebuild efforts came to fruition at that same time. Otherwise, it just doesn't really exist. And I think in the two years, I started to see why that is, it's just very difficult. And I think the last week, Sully and I spoke about a lot of the same stuff we've talked about the whole year. And it just became clear to me that it was probably time for a change and to move on. And I went yesterday and met with Sully, and sat down with him in Boston, and I just kind of went through that with him. And sometimes there's disagreement when you have those conversations, at other times, there's an agreement. I don't want to speak for for him and how he views it, but I would say it was very amicable, and the conversations with him have continued to stay that way."

Question: "What qualities are you looking for in your next head coach?"

Dubas: "What we're looking for now is we're looking to hire a great head coach, someone that could come in, continue to partner with us on all that we're undertaking. Understands that the job ahead is going to be a time of transition. It's going to be continuing to maximize the prime or the ends of careers of some of the players that we have, and it's going to be expeditiously developing some of the young players that have already come onto the roster, are about to come onto the roster, continue to make tweaks and changes around the system and the way that we integrate players, put their own stamp on the organization. They don't have to continue on what's been built on the coaching side. We want to protect the core ideology of the team while continuing to stimulate the outside. And there's a lot of great things about the Pittsburgh Penguins, and we want to preserve those while continuing to move the team ahead and move the team forward. And we'll cast a wide net on this search -- long-time head coaches, coaches from Europe, coaches from junior, college, etc. We'll turn every page to find the best person for the job."

Haase: "On the search for the next head coach, do you find yourself valuing or prioritizing someone who does have recent experience in a development role -- AHL, the minors -- just given the phase you're in right now?

Dubas: "I just think any history of it, Taylor, and we'll have deep questions as we go through the process on what their experience has been developmentally. Sully had that. Sully was in player development with Chicago. He coached the American League, he was an assistant coach. So that's something I think, especially now in the salary cap era, you have to always be developing your own guys. Part of that is on the player personnel department to provide the development staff, the minor league staff, and the coaching staff good enough players that can help the team. And Wes Clark and his group will be on that, and then we'll be making sure that we've got that developmental system regimented all the way through. So of course, it's always important. It'll be tough for me personally to go with somebody that has no record or real passion for development. Those are becoming fewer and fewer in that brethren of coaching right now."

Question: "How does Sid feel about this? Because he is notoriously abhorrent to change."

Dubas: "I'm not going to speak for Sid, Mark. But you know, he's --"

Question: "It's a fair question."

Dubas: "I'm not disputing whether it's fair or not. When we go through and make coaching changes, or any changes in the organization, I have to do what I think is best for the organization. I called Sid yesterday morning before I met with Sully to give him the heads up. He's been through it before. But in terms of how he feels about it, I had a five-minute conversation with him before about the fact that we were going to make a change, and we didn't get into the the ins and outs of it. So I have to do what I think is best for the organization, every single player. You poll that room of players, you're going to largely have probably seven of them that love the coach, seven of them that hate the coach, and seven that are indifferent. And the same applies to management. Same applies to the remainder of the staff as well. So I think polling players on their feeling of the coaches is not always the greatest thing to do when you're trying to make that change. And I had to take all the information over the last two years and do what I think is best."

Question: "With Mike, if he pursues employment elsewhere, would you need to be granting any kind of permissions in that regard? And is anyone on staff at all a candidate or consideration for the position? Whether it's (Vellucci, David Quinn, Kirk MacDonald).

Dubas: "It's not that teams are going to reach out and ask for permission, it's Mike Sullivan. He's got term remaining on his contract, so they'll reach out, will grant permission, no issue at all. With regards to people on the staff. I haven't really dug into that. Kirk won't be a candidate at this time. It's just been one year in Wilkes, that's a different tale. It's a disappointing end there as well. So I just think he needs to establish himself as a successful coach there before we consider him. He's a huge part of the organization. But David's got deep, deep experience at this level. But I haven't dug too far into that."

Question: "For Mike, can you kind of explain what rules do or do not exist in terms of coach compensation going from one organization to another. I guess I'm asking that, because when you say mutual parting of ways, people wonder, well, OK if he wants to go, then what do you get?"

Dubas: "The league, a couple years ago, I forget exactly what, had rules that govern this, where if you had a person under contract, and you allowed them to go to to another team, you got draft pick compensation, and then they eliminated that in years past. So, you aren't entitled to any compensation from another team. If you want to trade the coach per se, you can't trade it. I can't trade Jason Spezza or Amanda Kessel or Mike Sullivan and get anything back. The way that it works is that if a team would request permission to speak to us, the team in every case -- it was the case with me here, coming here as well -- I was with Toronto. I was fired by Toronto. The Penguins requested permission. They granted permission. From the day I was hired, June 1, whatever was left in my contract, the Penguins had to take it over and pay. Toronto was off the hook. So that's the way that it works in hockey, and it's governed by the league."

Question: "You mentioned relationships within the organization and such with Mike Sullivan. Was that part of the stagnant or complacency that you feared and that you mentioned last week, perhaps maybe slowing some change you'd like to see?"

Dubas: "I don't think so. When I talk about his relationships, I think when you work somewhere for 10 years, there was a championship relationship. Like I'm speaking about the staff that are here. I see the relationship that Mike has with those staff. I don't want to speak for them or speak for him, but that creates a special bond that you have. And so when I was talking about those relationships and the impact that they've had, I think when I talked to the staff this morning, or when I met with Sully yesterday, those are special situations and bonds that are formed. I think you can have those special bonds be formed and not have any any complacency, or have there be any stagnant feeling. Those are two very separate things. I'm just talking about the impact on the people here on Sully and vice versa."

Question: "Can you differentiate between Mike and the style of play you wanted and he wanted to play? Was that a key issue for you?"

Dubas: "Well, I think Sully, with the right personnel, the style of play has proven to be very effective here. There are two banners that hang there because of the way that Sully coaches, not only with the style. I mean, in hockey especially, there's the style that team executes, and there's getting the most out of the players to execute it. There's the consistency which you're able to instill. Part of that also depends on you then be provided with the requisite players that can play that way. I think, in terms of what I expect in style, for me, I don't lock myself into any one thing we want to go through with. It'll be a key part of the coaching process that we go through to identify with them what style they have, certain tenets of style that they like to stick to. How does our current personnel group fit? What can we do to get them players that will fit that and then start to build a plan in the interview process so it's not a surprise after? So for me, I think that the key part is number one, we have to be way more competitive. The players have to be more and more competitive. We have to find more competitive players. We want to -- we need to -- become faster. We need to become more talented and skilled. Those are the core overarching themes that we're going to focus on in the draft and in acquisitions. And then determining what the best style of play for that group, we'll work with the coaching candidates on that and determine that."

Question: "Kyle, you mentioned the young players that are working their way through the system, but obviously there's also the well-established core veteran players here. Just for anybody coming in, is there the unique challenge to be able to handle both of those things, when you have players that have been here for a while and had success, but also younger guys that are working their way?"

Dubas: "I don't look at it so much as a challenge. I think every one of these jobs is challenging. I think when you're coaching at this level, it's the highest level, it's very difficult. But I think it provides a tremendous opportunity for whoever comes in, you have players that set a wonderful example every day that could probably benefit. I don't want to speak for them, because I haven't had those discussions with them. But I think when you have the same coach for a long time, you get ingrained in a certain way of doing things each day, and I think a fresh person coming in may be able to spur them in the right direction, and it might have the opposite effect on some guys, frankly. But I think it's a great opportunity, because you're coming in to a group of players that have accomplished a lot. They've accomplished a lot together, and they still have -- as you see on the ice during the year -- they still have a lot to give to the game in combination with younger players that are going to come along. So I view it as a great opportunity. If we didn't have some of those younger guys that had come up and played, I would say it would be a little bit more daunting. But it goes back to what I had said last week about being a little bit better about where we're at right now with the group."

Question: "Kyle, when we spoke with you last week, you said that Mike has been very open to this, that this was still what he wants to do. He wanted to see the team through this. What was it in your mind that changed to really reaffirm that that wasn't the case?"

Dubas: "I think last week when asked, I was just reaffirming what Mike had said to the group here and to me. He and I met last Tuesday about where we're at, where we're going, the road that we see to get there, the challenges that lie ahead. And in my mind, I left there -- and there have been a few times during the year where I felt this as well, after certain stretches, or after certain games -- where I started to feel that maybe it was just time. Someone can be a great coach, and it might be time for them to go elsewhere and reapply that. And you could use whatever analogy you want. Sometimes the class needs a new professor, and sometimes the professor needs a new class. And after my conversation with Mike on Tuesday about his feelings of where we're at and where we need to go, I just sat and contemplated it for the week and then made the decision to go yesterday and have a conversation with him, just essentially saying that I think it's just time. I'll let him speak to it at when he's ready to, but I don't think there's a massive disagreement on that front."

Question: "I know you said you spoke with Sid yesterday, a five-minute conversation, bringing him up to speed. Obviously, his opinion is a big one throughout this organization, I would imagine. But are you concerned that he's going to want to leave now after given his relationship with Sully?"

Dubas: "... No."

Question: "You said last week he's been very open about this is what he wants to do, so we'll just continue to reaffirm that, and as long as he's on that side of it, we will roll with that. In those conversations that you had with him, was your takeaway that he did not align necessarily with what you saw from the vision of the next handful years for the Penguins?"

Dubas: "Yeah, I wouldn't say there was any one specific item or one specific area or one specific part of the operation. I think sometimes you just leave conversations with people, and especially in that one where it's the relationship between the general manager and the coach. As I said last week, just being very open with you all, it's a tough thing. I know there's certain demands on having to come in and do the media, and then after the season, and then as I said last week, I haven't gone through those conversations with Mike. And for me, part of the reaffirmation of where we're at is, is he still up for this? Does he want to go through this? Where does he sense it's at, and what's his energy and passion for it? And I think in a perfect world, he would love to grind and see it all the way through with the Penguins. But I think in my mind, after my conversation with him last week and more contemplation during the week, there's not any one thing that I would look at and say we had mass disagreement on these two areas. It was just in general, the feeling that the demands of this and what we're asking. It was to me, time for him to go elsewhere, to apply it, and for us to move on as well. So, sometimes it's just not really an accumulation, just a general feeling that we have, and then in this position, you have to make those decisions and they're hard, but that's the job."

Question: "In the meeting yesterday, there were no demands issued by Mike Sullivan in order to stay with the Penguins?"

Dubas: "There were none. I'll just attack this, but there were no demands last Tuesday, there were no demands yesterday, and there were no demands in the period in between. There have never been any demands for Mike, or whatever it's termed as I just got briefed on (the report) on the way over here. 'Non-negotiables.' Never happened."

Question: "Any coach that replaces a coach as successful as that, there's going to be sort of pressure. And when you're a coach and you're inheriting a team that's undergoing the process you're undergoing, it's a different job than maybe some. Veteran coaches versus guys that may have more of experience in college coaches, guys from junior, things like that. They might have more experience with some younger players, as opposed to veterans. Is that sort of on your radar right now as you begin this process?"

Dubas: "I think if you look at the coaches who've gone to places and spurred very positive reaction in similar settings, they've generally been coaches in their first chance at it. You've got Spencer Carberry. Spencer came all the way through, all the way up. I had Spencer in Toronto, he left Toronto. He was interviewing with Washington as I was, was coming here. And then you have Jim Hiller, who has gone through the league as an assistant coach, I'm talking about in Los Angeles. Then you have Marty St. Louis, Montreal, it's ended up being a great hire by them. But those are all three very different paths taken. One is just a pure assistant coach in the NHL -- came from junior into the NHL as an assistant coach, ran power plays in Detroit, Toronto, New York, and then Los Angeles before becoming head coach. Then you have Spencer, who worked his way all the way up, the entire way. And then you have Marty St. Louis, who came from Fairfield U13 AAA after a Hall-of-Fame career. So that's why when I say we're going to cast a wide net, it's because the evidence is there that shows a couple things. No. 1, to ask a coach of Sully's capability to find a way to go from contender to transition back to contender. There's no proof that exists, and I see why now and then. On the other end, there's coaches who've come into situations similar to this, and this is its own unique situation a number of ways, but they've come from different very different places to have success. So we'll turn every page and find the right person for the job and and bring them in and get rolling with them."