Top 3 Mike Sullivan replacements the Pittsburgh Penguins should eye for vacant HC role ft. Rick Tocchet

The Pittsburgh Penguins decided to part ways with head coach Mike Sullivan on Monday after 10 years with the team.

Sullivan won back-to-back Stanley Cups with the Penguins in 2016 and 2017, but Pittsburgh has missed the playoffs in three straight years, so Kyle Dubas decided to make a change.

“On behalf of Fenway Sports Group and the Penguins organization, I would like to thank Mike Sullivan for his unwavering commitment and loyalty to the team and City of Pittsburgh over the past decade,” said Dubas. “Mike is known for his preparation, focus and fierce competitiveness. I was fortunate to have a front-row seat to his dedication to this franchise for the past two seasons. He will forever be an enormous part of Penguins history, not only for the impressive back-to-back Cups.”

After the Penguins fired Sullivan, here are three potential replacements to be Pittsburgh’s next head coach.

Top 3 Mike Sullivan replacements for Penguins HC

#1, Rick Tocchet

The Vancouver Canucks decided to not pick up the option on head coach Rick Tocchet but are open to keeping him on a long-term deal.

However, Tocchet can go elsewhere, and now the Penguins’ job is an intriguing one for him. Tocchet would get the chance to coach the likes of Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang.

Yet, the Penguins appear to be going into a rebuild soon, so whether or not he would want to go through that is uncertain.

#2, Joel Quenneville

Joel Quenneville is eligible to be back in the NHL, and if Pittsburgh wants to hire a big name, Quenneville makes sense.

Quenneville was the coach of the Chicago Blackhawks during their dynasty, helping them win three Stanley Cups.

Quenneville knows what it takes to coach a winning team, and his intensity could be what is needed for the Penguins to get back into the playoffs.

#3, David Carle

If Kyle Dubas and the Penguins want to go young, David Carle is one of the best coaches available.

Carle is the head coach of the University of Denver and has shown some interest in going to the NHL. He did withdraw his name from the Blackhawks job, so it’s uncertain if he would be interested in coaching the Penguins.

About the author

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alt=”Cole Shelton” height=”72″ width=”72″>

Cole is an NHL, NFL and College Sports reporter at Sportskeeda with over 7 years of experience writing for publications like CBC, USA Today, SMG, BJPENN, Sherdog and SB Nation.

An NHL fan his whole life, Cole played rep hockey in Canada from age 5 until 17 and grew up rooting for Martin St. Louis and the Tampa Bay Lightning. His all-time favorite players are Vincent Lecavalier and Steven Stamkos, while Jon Cooper is his favorite coach of all time.

Cole attended Sheridan College and received his journalism degree in 2019. After decades of watching and reporting, he considers his knowledge of sports as his primary strength. He ensures that the same story has been reported by at least two reputed reporters before creating it.

Cole enjoys playing golf and spending time with friends and family when not reporting breaking stories. His favorite sports moment is from the 2010 Olympics, when Sidney Crosby scored the golden goal in overtime to beat Team USA for the gold medal.

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