When Mike Sullivan assumed his current role as Penguins head coach in December 2015, the club he inherited was hardly a dominant force.
Questions lingered about things growing stale, stars producing, the construction of the roster and more. But after he was promoted from Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, Sullivan transformed how the Penguins played and ultimately helped the group find its way, teaming with general manager Jim Rutherford to help Pittsburgh stage Stanley Cup parades in consecutive seasons.
Sullivan faces another tall task now, the Penguins having missed the postseason in consecutive seasons for the first time in nearly two decades.
There are more concerns about the Penguins’ competitive window, how much their stars have left and the shape of a roster now managed by president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas. Moreover, Sullivan found himself in the eye of the storm earlier this offseason — specifically whether he’d remain here or somehow wind up coaching the New Jersey Devils.
I sat down with Sullivan on Saturday in his office at UPMC Lemieux Sports Complex following the first day of development camp to talk about what has certainly been a unique offseason and — no surprise — his desire to remain at the forefront of the Penguins solving their current problems.
“We’ve had our ups and downs here over the last couple of years,” Sullivan said early in our 30-minute conversation. “But just because something gets difficult, that doesn’t mean that we’re all gonna search for something easier.
“I think it’s important that we continue to strive for excellence and try to find solutions together. That’s what we’re trying to do.”
Devils in the details
If there’s one concept that framed our conversation, it was Sullivan pushing back against how the Penguins are perceived, specifically what was written and said about his own job status earlier this offseason, as well as how the club is viewed when it comes to certain things like systems, team speed and goaltending.
Sullivan was aware of the speculation that he could leave Pittsburgh for New Jersey. Ditto for there being a possible issue when it comes to his relationship with Dubas. At the same time, Sullivan wasted no time pouring water on both ideas.
“I’m not gonna sit here and say I’m unaware of the narrative out there,” Sullivan said. “It’s part of my job and why I’m in this role — to be aware of what the narrative is around the team so that we make sure that we react the right way.
“I was aware of some of the speculation. What I can say to you is, don’t believe everything you read. I know where Kyle and I sat. We’ve developed a great relationship. It’s built on transparency and trust.”
I have no reason to believe there are issues with Sullivan and Dubas. In fact, after chatting with Sullivan, I’m more confident than ever that the two are fine and — whether it works or not — they’re on the same page when it comes to how they’ll attack the 2024-25 season.
Furthermore, Sullivan potentially leaving is something I never understood. Along with Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang, there’s long been an unspoken agreement among these guys that they’re in this together.
“I think that’s very fair,” Sullivan responded when I shared my perception. “I think you know what I think of those guys, both as players and as people and everything that we’ve been through. I have so much respect for those guys and what they’ve accomplished. I still believe these guys have elite play in them.”
Sullivan would go on to credit John Henry and Tom Werner and the rest of Fenway Sports Group for the support he has received. At the same time, the Penguins have obviously fallen short of their goals the past few seasons.
So, what has to change?
Identity change?
When Sullivan took over for Mike Johnston, two of the things he helped the Penguins achieve included playing faster and integrating young players into the lineup. With another kick in the (hockey) pants required, it seems Sullivan will be going back to that well.
Part of our conversation revolved around what it will take for the Penguins — with the oldest average age in the NHL on opening night last season at 30.6 years — to play a faster game. Sullivan believes they can, but it’s more than the speed at which their skates move.
Whether it involves forwards Sam Poulin, Valtteri Puustinen, Vasily Ponomarev and Brayden Yager, or defensemen such as Jack St. Ivany or Owen Pickering, Sullivan believes an infusion of youth will be essential for the Penguins this season.
“I’ve always been a believer that, when you have a combination of veteran guys with a certain amount of youth, it’s a great dynamic that takes place in the dressing room,” Sullivan said. “If we can get a little bit younger and add some youth to our lineup, usually with that comes an element of physical foot speed. But there are different types of speed.”
Sullivan brought up old friend Nick Bonino to prove his point, arguing that Bonino was smart enough to know what to do with the puck quickly. Carl Hagelin and Phil Kessel thrived because they had the physical tools to take advantage.
It’s incumbent on Dubas, Sullivan and others to find those combinations this season and force the Penguins to play a faster game.
“I think there’s an opportunity for us to add a little bit of youth into the lineup that can recharge our veteran guys and surround them with a little bit of foot speed,” Sullivan said. “That would give us the opportunity to stay true to the identity of the Pittsburgh Penguins and how these guys have had success in all the time that they’ve been here.”
One thing that seems to irk Sullivan is the perception that he’s stubborn or that the Penguins haven’t tried to change. They have — even though it might be tough to see from the outside. One could argue based on results that those changes haven’t done enough to positively impact outcomes.
“I think what’s been missed in this narrative is the idea that our game hasn’t evolved,” Sullivan said. “We’ve changed a lot of things with respect to how our team plays.
“Having said that, there’s a certain identity that this organization has been built on that I think plays to the strength of the core group. That identity is something that’s really important to sustain. That’s a process.”
Developing trend
While the outside world was speculating whether Sullivan's time with the Penguins had finished, he was busy meeting with Dubas to go over what went right, what went wrong, best practices around the league and what may need to change for the Penguins in 2024-25.
One of the items they landed on, and eventually sought to improve, was development.
In Toronto, Dubas was keenly aware of the ever-growing size of hockey operations departments, the sport science people, analytics, medical personnel, etc. The Penguins have certainly done similar things. It's nothing against what was done before, but it seems like the two men settled on development as a possible area for growth.
In other words, while wanting to skew younger, Dubas and Sullivan knew they’d have to do a better job developing players and essentially formalize the entire process.
"We’ve spent a lot of time on that and what that might look like," Sullivan said. “How we can build a development philosophy throughout our whole organization that gives us an opportunity to speak a common language to make our players better.
"That’s something that we’re going through right now. It’s been a great process. Kyle’s a guy who values that, as do I."
It's exciting for Sullivan, the chance to have daily or weekly player improvement become a more regular part of his job. It's also something that might determine whether or not this upcoming season can be determined a success.
'Motivated as ever'
The last narrative Sullivan pushed back against was in goal, where he rode Alex Nedeljkovic late in the season and seemingly soured on Tristan Jarry. That’s not true, the coach insisted. In one of his lines that I’ve heard no fewer than a thousand times, he went and stuck with Ned because Sullivan thought he gave the Penguins the best chance to win.
Nothing more, nothing less.
“Sometimes I think you guys give me too much credit when it comes to some of these theories on how we make decisions,” Sullivan said, smiling as we went back and forth on the topic.
I had no issue with him riding Nedeljkovic. Still don’t. But it created a complicated dynamic with Jarry, who Sullivan admitted wasn’t thrilled with the whole thing. How do you come back from that?
Sullivan said he’s not worried about the dynamic. He has spoken with Jarry this summer and said the goalie was “as motivated as ever to play.” He’ll need to, too, as Sullivan plans on using both frequently, along with possibly Joel Blomqvist, provided he’s ready.
“Was Tristan pleased with those decisions to go with Ned down the stretch? Of course not,” Sullivan said. “He’s a competitive player. He wants to be in the net. I’d be concerned if he didn’t want that. It’s indicative of his competitive nature.
“But Tristan understood the circumstance. I think you respect the process. That’s all I can ask as the coach. Tristan is as motivated as ever to play. He understands how important he is to this team and trying to help us win.”
Jarry isn’t the only one, obviously.
After a weird offseason, one that included rumors about him being traded, fired or leaving, all within a couple weeks, Sullivan hasn’t gone anywhere. The goal and challenge ahead remains similar, too.
“Kyle and I went through a process together at the end of the year in evaluating our group and where we’re at and where we potentially want to go,” Sullivan said. “We’ve been very much on the same page.
“From that standpoint, a lot of what was being talked about was simply not true. But when you’re in positions that we’re in, sometimes you can’t control that stuff. We’re gonna focus on what we can control. That’s trying to continue to grow this organization to be as competitive as it can be.”
Jason Mackey: jmackey@post-gazette.com and @JMackeyPG on X.
First Published: July 8, 2024, 9:30 a.m.
Updated: July 9, 2024, 12:40 p.m.
