Penguins Have a Difficult Decision with Mike Sullivan
Elliotte Friedman of Sportsnet was on Sirius XM NHL Network with Gord Stellick and Scott Laughlin and was asked about Mike Sullivan and when will things get to a tipping point with the Pittsburgh Penguins and they could move on from him.
NHLRumors.com Transcriptions
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Gord Stellick: “And let’s face it, Elliotte every team that’s having some struggles, goaltending is an issue in some way, shape or form. So I know there’s some people that thought had Pittsburgh lost, like we’re talking it’s a tipping point now, and you decide whether the tipping point is the coach or what you do or don’t do.
And in Pittsburgh, if they would have lost Saturday to San Jose, that could have been the first coaching casualty. So again, we’re not after any coaches’ jobs, but you know, what’s your take on that scenario in Pittsburgh? They blow another lead last night, even though they get an overtime point.”
Elliotte Friedman: “I just think that Pittsburgh has already sent the signal that they’re going through. I don’t know what do you want to call it? Gordie, a rebuild or retool like, what phrase do you want to use.”
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Stellick: “Rebuilding with who?”
Friedman: “Well, what do you mean we’re rebuilding with who?”
Stellick: “Well, they’re used like rebuilding a house was, but you don’t want to be raw materials. You got (Rutger) McGroarty.”
Friedman: “Well, you know what? The thing is, that’s my point. I think they’re gonna like, I think what they’re gonna do is they’re gonna try to move whoever they can move for young NHL players, like when Dubas made it clear he was open for business.
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What he said was, his first choice was to get young NHL players, or then it was young players who’ve already been drafted who are close to the NHL, and then if failing that, draft picks. And (Lars) Eller was a rental. That’s what you get, two picks.
But I think, you, he’s gonna try, like I don’t think (Sidney) Crosby’s getting traded unless Crosby comes to them and says, ‘I want out.’ Crosby’s not getting traded. I don’t think (Evgeni) Malkin, sounds like he doesn’t want to go anywhere and I don’t think they’re inclined to do it.
I think they’ll look at everything, and (Marcus) Pettersson will be an interesting one because I think there’ll be people interested in him. (Drew) O’Connor will be an interesting one, because I think there’ll be people interested in him. And then they’ve got some guys with a little bit of term, like (Noel) Acciari would be one guy. I would mention that I think that there will be interest in him, and I think Dubas will do what he can to move some of these guys and see if he can get some younger players and some fresh blood on the roster, so that’s how I think he’s going to do it.
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Now, the Sullivan one, and by the way, Gordie, I do agree with you. Like that Columbus game against Boston on Monday night. We’ve all been around long enough to know that when you, you see a game like that. It’s the kind of game that gets a coach fired.
Sullivan, to me, has always been a more challenging one there, because, number one, ownership signed into a huge extension. So they really, ownership, really like Sullivan. Crosby really likes Sullivan. And the other thing here is that, and the one thing I do agree with is you get to a point where you need a fresh voice, and I think it’s very fair to wonder if that’s the case in Pittsburgh.
But the other thing I say here is that it’s going to be very hard to find a coach who’s better than the one you currently have, and I think everyone in Pittsburgh is aware of that.”
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