Mike Sullivan used to talk about Matt Cullen as an extension of the Penguins' coaching staff when Cullen was still in Pittsburgh as a player.
After Cullen retired as a player following the 2018-19 season, the Penguins added him to the coaching staff in a player development role. With assistant Todd Reirden undergoing knee surgery on Feb. 14 as a result of a fall on ice in his driveway, an opportunity presented itself for Cullen to step in and take on a more prominent role with the Penguins' coaching staff for the time being.
Sullivan spoke after Wednesday's practice about there being a "learning curve" when a player transitions from their previous role to a coaching role, but he said Cullen's handled the move well.
"We're trying to help him behind the scenes with all of that stuff," Sullivan explained. "The technology, how to use the video and the computer and all the things involved that help us do our job. Then there's the experience of standing up in front of a group of players and have to present a meeting. That can be very intimidating for for guys. But Cully's a natural at it, he's just very good at it."
Reirden typically manages the defensemen and the power play, and Sullvian said after announcing Reirden's injury that assistant coach Mike Vellucci would take over the duties of managing the defensemen in Reirden's absence. Cullen would take over a lot of the pre-scout duties and be present in meetings.
Cullen, though, has also been behind the bench for games ever since stepping in for Reirden.
I asked Sullivan after Thursday's morning skate at PPG Paints Arena what exactly Cullen's in-game responsibilities are, and he said that Cullen's role behind the bench is more about "offering some feedback with our players." Cullen also works the iPad during games, and helps out the coaches and players by recalling videos during play to show them things they may have missed or want to see a second time.
"We can make adjustments right on the bench, depending on what he sees or what he comes back with," Sullivan said. "So that's how we utilize him on the bench. I think he has such a great relationship with a lot of our players, it's almost like he takes on a leadership role when he's behind the bench."
Between games, Cullen is also involved in the meetings with both special teams groups. While he's mostly remembered as a penalty-killer during the later years of his career in Pittsburgh, he was a frequent member of power play units earlier in his career.
"He joked he hadn't been in a power play meeting since 2008," Sullivan said of Cullen. "The experience of being on both sides of the special teams gives him a certain perspective I think that is really beneficial from a coaching standpoint. You know, he really has a real good understanding of the subtleties of both sides of the special teams, and he brings some great insights."
The Penguins' mantra through the typical rash of injuries during the season is "next man up," and it's been the performances of some of those depth pieces that have helped carry the team through those tough times.
With the tough injury luck now affecting the coaching staff too, the Penguins continue to get strong contributions from their "next man up."
MORE FROM THE SKATE
• Tristan Jarry will start tonight vs. the Devils.
• It was a lightly-attended optional morning skate, with participants being Casey DeSmith, Chad Ruhwedel, Marcus Pettersson, Dominik Simon, Kasper Bjorkqvist, Teddy Blueger, Brian Boyle, and Jake Guentzel
• Blueger continued to wear a full shield. He wore a normal-colored jersey (as opposed to a special non-contact jersey), but Sullivan said not to read into the colors when asked about it. Blueger still hasn't been cleared for contact.
"He's just going through the process, his status hasn't changed," Sullivan said of Blueger. "We're trying to get him around the team as much as we can, depending on the nature of the practices, because he's non-contact. Depending on what the practices look like will dictate his participation. We're trying to get him involved as much as we can around the players, just to make that transition into the team environment easier."
• Sullivan said that Kasperi Kapanen's confidence "isn't at an all-time high" given his lack of production.
"Kapanen's a guy who cares an awful lot about his own game, and he cares a lot about the Penguins," Sullivan said. "So you could probably imagine where he's at as far as his own personal headspace. These guys are great athletes, and they care a lot and they pride themselves in what they do. But they're also human beings, and when things don't go the right way, they go through ups and downs with respect to their self confidence, just like every other person in the world. ... We're just trying to help (Kapanen) through the process, just trying to get him to simplify his game, shoot the puck more, go to the net, do things, take some of the thinking out of it. Maybe take some of the mindset of worrying about scoring and just focusing on playing the game the right way. If you can take the focus off of trying to score goals and just immerse yourself in playing the game the right way and the details and what your job is in certain situations, the byproduct of that is he'll get opportunities to score because he's a talented guy."
