The Penguins on Friday parted ways with associate coach Todd Reirden after four seasons in which Reirden was primarily responsible for the power play and defense.
Reirden was in his second stint with the Penguins behind the bench, having re-joined the organization in 2020. He was an assistant coach for one season before being promoted to associate coach, a role he held for the last three seasons.
"We are grateful to Todd for his dedication and commitment to the Penguins over two separate stints with the organization," Kyle Dubas said of the move. "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."
Under Reirden the Penguins' power play finished fourth in the league in 2021 (23.7%), 19th in 2022 (20.2%), 14th in 2023 (21.7%), and 30th in 2024 (15.3%). Collectively over the last four seasons, the Penguins' power play ranked 18th at 19.9%.
Assuming assistant coach Mike Vellucci's responsibilities of the forwards and penalty-kill remain the same, the Penguins' search this summer will be for a replacement who can take over the power play and defense.
Who are some potential candidates out there? Let's take a look at five names.
DAVID QUINN
Quinn was just fired as head coach of the Sharks for apparently tanking a little too well, and he might just be a fit for the Penguins' vacancy.
For one, Quinn and Sullivan have a great relationship already. They were teammates at Boston University for two seasons:
BOSTON UNIVERSITY
David Quinn (top row) and Mike Sullivan (second row) with Boston University
Quinn said in a 2019 NBC Sports segment that because he's two years older than Sullivan and the two look a little alike, he lent his passport to Sullivan to use as a fake ID for a couple years.
"It's well chronicled that we're close friends, and we were teammates in college," Sullivan said of Quinn earlier this season. "Our relationship dates back a long time. We talk a lot of hockey in the offseason. I have a ton of respect for him as a person and a coach and their whole staff."
Sullivan also gave an endorsement for Quinn's ability to lead a young team through a rebuild, citing his extensive experience coaching younger players. Quinn was an assistant coach with Northeastern University from 1993-96, University of Nebraska-Omaha from 1996-02, head coach of the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2002-04, associate head coach of Boston University from 2004-09, head coach of the AHL's Lake Erie Monsters from 2009-12, and head coach of Boston University from 2013-18. Quinn's NHL experience includes a season as assistant coach of the Avalanche in 2012-13, three season as head coach of the Rangers from 2018-21, and these last two seasons as head coach of the Sharks.
“He’s a very good teacher,” Sullivan said. “He has a good understanding of the game, a good command of the Xs and Os. He understands how to help players improve and grow and get better. I think his experience in college hockey would really help them in that regard, just dealing with the younger generation and trying to help players grow and develop as people.”
With the Penguins heading toward a rebuild in the not-so-distant future, Quinn's experience with younger player could be a plus.
Under Quinn as head coach, the Rangers' power play operated at 21%.
Quinn also coached Erik Karlsson in San Jose during Karlsson's 2022-23 Norris Trophy-winning season, and Drew O'Connor with Team USA during the 2023 World Championship.
TODD NELSON
Nelson is in his second season as head coach of the AHL's Hershey Bears, the defending Calder Cup champions and current regular-season champions. His Bears won 53 games this season, an AHL record for a 72-game season. Their power play ranked sixth in the league at 20.1%.
Before joining the Bears, Nelson spent four seasons as an assistant coach in the NHL with the Stars from 2018-22, coaching the defense and power play. Under Nelson in those four seasons the Stars had the ninth-best power play in the league, operating at 22%.
Nelson's previous stops include an assistant coaching position with the AHL's Grand Rapid Griffins in 2002-03, the head coach of the Muskegon Fury from 2003-06 in the former minor-league UHL, assistant coach of the AHL's Chicago Wolves from 2006-08, and assistant coach of the Atlanta Thrashers from 2008-10. He was head coach of the AHL's Oklahoma City Barons, the Oilers' AHL affiliate, from 2010-15 and served as interim head coach of the Oilers during the 2014-15 season. He spent three years in the AHL coaching Grand Rapids again from 2015-18 before joining the Stars.
Nelson was the Penguins' fourth-round pick in 1989. He played three years in the Penguins' organization, only suiting up for one game with the Penguins in 1991-92. It was a 2-2 tie with the Islanders at the Civic Arena.
JOHN GRUDEN
No, not the former Raiders coach. Or the Penguins prospect. The latter's dad, actually.
Gruden is currently the head coach of the AHL's Toronto Marlies. This was Gruden's first season in Toronto, so he had no overlap with Dubas in the organization. The Marlies made the playoffs with a 34-26-10-2 record and were eliminated in three games in the best-of-three first round. They had the 11th-best power play in the regular season at 19.3%.
Gruden comes with experience coaching prospects and NHL players. He got his start coaching high school hockey in Michigan from 2005-10, and was an assistant coach with the U.S. National Team Development Program from 2011-15 where he coached future NHL defensemen such as Jacob Trouba, Brady Skjei, Seth Jones, Noah Hanifin, Charlie McAvoy, Adam Fox and Zach Werenski. He spent the next three years as a head coach in the OHL -- first one season with the Flint Firebirds, then two with the Hamilton Bulldogs. He spent four seasons as an assistant coach with the Islanders from 2018-22, then one with the Bruins before leaving on his own for the Marlies job. He managed the defense and power play with the Islanders and Bruins.
The Islanders' power play was a combined 18.1% in those four seasons, 22nd in the league. The Bruins' power play under Gruden was 12th in the league at 22.2%.
DREW BANNISTER
Bannister took over as interim head coach of the Blues in mid-December after the firing of Craig Berube. The Blues haven't made a decision on the coaching staff for next season yet, so Bannister might earn the full-time title and not be available. His contract expires this summer, so if he doesn't get named head coach, he might be on the move. He'd be worth a look in that case.
For starters: The Blues' power play pre-Bannister this season was operating at a 8.4% success rate, 31st in the league in that span. After Bannister got promoted, it converted at a rate of 22.8%, good enough for 13th in the league.
The mid-season promotion came during Bannister's sixth year as the head coach of the Blues' AHL affiliate -- that's two years with the San Antonio Rampage from 2018-20, one season with the Utica Comets as associate head coach when the Blues didn't have a full AHL affiliate and loaned their prospects to Utica, and then the past three years with the Springfield Thunderbirds. Bannister led the Thunderbirds to the playoffs in both of his full seasons in Springfield, including a run to the Calder Cup Final in 2022.
Bannister played for the Soo Greyhounds as a defenseman and coached the Greyhounds for three years from 2015-18. His stint as head coach there started two seasons after Dubas' last year as the Greyhounds' general manager, so there wasn't overlap. But Dubas never stopped keeping up with his hometown club, so there's surely some level of familiarity.
PAUL COFFEY
This one is a shot in the darkest dark, but it's worth a try.
Coffey's coaching experience before this season was three years coaching his kids about a decade ago, two years as an Oilers' skills coach from 2017-19, and a brief assistant coaching gig for Canada at the Spengler Cup in 2019-20. For the past two years he's been a senior advisor to the Oilers, until he was asked to step behind the bench as an assistant coach for the defense in mid-November after the Oilers fired their coaching staff. He was reluctant to accept the role, but eventually relented. And he's fared well, and he's been part of the Oilers' turnaround.
“I think Paul’s been outstanding with the players, especially the defensemen," Oilers coach Kris Knoblauch said in a Sportsnet segment in December. "He spends a lot of time with them, talking to them, developing relationships. ... I just think there was a calming influence back there telling them to do little things. Keep moving the puck, moving your feet, get up ice, a lot of skating. Just trying to simplify and calm them down. You’ve seen the effect his presence has back there. All six defensemen have been playing so well."
Coffey got his start in the NHL with the Oilers, and he's loyal to the Oilers. But he played in Pittsburgh for five seasons, is close with Mario Lemieux too, his home and his family are in Toronto, and Pittsburgh's a whole lot closer to Toronto than Edmonton is.
If Coffey wanted to become a full-time assistant coach moving forward and would be willing to leave Edmonton for another former home of his, he'd be a heck of a pickup for the defense and power play. But again, it's a long shot.
