On head coaches Jon Cooper and Mike Sullivan
TSN: Darren Dreger and Jay Onrait on Tampa Bay Lightning coach Jon Cooper and Pittsburgh Penguins coach Mike Sullivan.
** NHLRumors.com transcription
Onrait: “Speaking of coaches a lot of interesting talk over the past week Dregs about a couple of super high profile coaches, potentially, maybe being on their way out of their current situations.
You got Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh.”
Dreger: “Yeah.”
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Onrait: “You’ve got Jon Cooper going in the final year of his deal in Tampa. Can you tell us anything about those two coaches? Is it actually a possibility that they could potentially move on?”
Dreger: “Well, only in the sense that it’s media speculation, right? Julien BriseBois, the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning acknowledged, you know, the future of, of John Cooper there and said, Look, he still has term left on his contract.
So I think this again, is more media fodder than it is anything else. Can we appreciate why Jon Cooper might be thinking about what his future is? I mean, he’s done great things with the Tampa Bay Lightning, but they still have a lot more to give there.
So it’s not just Cooper. It’s (Steven) Stamkos. What are they gonna do with (Victor) Hedman? BriseBois, addressed those things to the media.
Now you look at Mike Sullivan and the Pittsburgh Penguins. And again, I can understand why the connection is made there. Tom Fitzgerald, the general manager of the New Jersey Devils is good friends with Mike Sullivan. You know, and Mike Sullivan is a highly decorated coach.
And you know the New Jersey Devils are in that situation. Do they retain Travis Green? Do they look for maybe a bit more experience but I can tell you the Penguins brass recognize that Mike Sullivan is a strong development coach as well. So they’re going through a transition in Pittsburgh. Anything is possible but it feels unlikely that he leaves.”
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Pittsburgh Penguins: The Penguins have fired associate coach Todd Reiden.
Wes Crosby: Penguins GM Kyle Dubas: “Mike Sullivan and I have spent time over the past two weeks evaluating the coaching staff, and although these decisions are never easy, we agree that this change was in the best interest of the team moving forward.”
Kevin Weekes: “Per my tweet the other day, @penguins have relieved Associate Coach Reirden , curious to see what other potential changes happen with their staff. Tho they haven’t granted permission for teams re H.C Sullivan, if they mutually agree for his departure it could be via trade.”
Frank Seravalli: “There was no shortage of friction in Pittsburgh, where as we reported, coach Mike Sullivan was vehemently opposed to making changes to his staff. Now that GM Kyle Dubas has fired assistant coach Todd Reirden, is that the tipping point on Sullivan’s tenure? We shall see.”
