How Sullivan, Cooper, Brind’Amour speculation may influence coaching market

01/05/2024

To put into context how wild and insecure the head coaching market is in the NHL, consider that Martin St. Louis, hired by Montreal in February 2022, is the sixth-longest tenured bench boss in the league at the moment.

Turnover in this job is constant, sometimes unfair and reactionary, but it’s making for an interesting landscape this summer.

At the moment, five teams are looking for new head coaches, with Seattle and San Jose wide open and New Jersey, Ottawa and St. Louis figuring out what’s next after finishing the season with interim coaches. And, depending on how the playoffs shake out, a few more jobs could open up.

In Toronto, for instance, if the Maple Leafs bow out against Boston, many are anticipating Sheldon Keefe — the league’s fifth-longest tenured coach — would be let go ahead of an extension that’s yet to kick in.

And then there is the matter of Jon Cooper in Tampa Bay, Mike Sullivan in Pittsburgh and Rod Brind’Amour in Carolina. All three are highly respected and sought-after leaders, the longest, second-longest and fourth-longest tenured in the league. If either their teams moved on from them, or they from their teams, it would be quite the surprise.

Yet, there’s been plenty of recent speculation that any of them could become available this off-season. And it’s something teams in search of a leader have had to think on.

“I was under the impression it was a slam dunk that Sullivan was coming back to Pittsburgh. That they were more than comfortable with Sullivan as the person to lead them through the next phase of whatever this is, even though there was a GM change,” Elliotte Friedman said on Wednesday’s 32 Thoughts podcast.

“I think it’s the same as Cooper, in a sense. I think there are teams looking for coaches that are like, ‘What happens if Mike Sullivan is available. Is he available? Is there any chance he doesn’t want to stay in Pittsburgh?’ And if the answer is yes, just like Cooper, there are teams that would want Sullivan.”

Amid this speculation, The Athletic reported on Tuesday that Penguins GM Kyle Dubas said “there have been no requests and no permissions granted” for teams to interview Sullivan. It’s believed the Penguins coach will start a new three-year extension, paying roughly $5.5 million per season, on July 1.

how sullivan, cooper, brind’amour speculation may influence coaching market

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As for the Lightning and Cooper, much of the speculation on his future revolved around the belief his contract was set to expire after next season. However, when Tampa GM Julien BriseBois spoke about it on Wednesday, he indicated that Cooper had a new deal that extended past that date.

“No, he’s got term,” BriseBois said. “I love our coaching staff, love working with him, feel privileged to continue working with him. He’s a special coach and the best guy for the job.”

Brind’Amour is the only one of the three still standing in the playoffs, as his Hurricanes get set to face the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers in the second round. Brind’Amour is also the only one of these three without a Stanley Cup, but under his guidance Carolina became the first team to win a playoff round in six straight seasons since the Detroit Red Wings from 1995-2000. The start of that run coincided with Brind’Amour’s arrival.

On a March 16 “Saturday Headlines” segment on Hockey Night in Canada, Friedman reported that Brind’Amour was optimistic an extension with the Canes would get done, with one caveat. When Brind’Amour last came up for a contract extension in 2021, he insisted on prioritizing new deals for his entire coaching staff as well, and that could also be a factor this time around.

“I understand that remains one of the issues, he wants his assistant coaches to be taken care of and that’s what he’s waiting for before he signs on the dotted line,” Friedman said at the time.

Now, as the Canes gear up for their second round series, Luke DeCock of the Raleigh News and Observer writes that an extension perhaps is not such a sure thing.

DeCock writes:

“With nine potential unrestricted free agents this summer, including longtime stalwarts like Brett Pesce, Brady Skjei, Jordan Martinook and Teuvo Teravainen, these playoffs were always going to have a bit of a ‘last dance’ feel for the Carolina Hurricanes, at least for a big chunk of the current group. With an extension to head coach Rod Brind’Amour’s contract still not concluded, that sense is growing, especially when there were rumblings a deal was all but completed near the end of the regular season, only for negotiations to apparently reach an impasse and stall. As the Hurricanes wait for their second-round series against the New York Rangers to begin, Brind’Amour’s name is increasingly being mentioned in connection to openings elsewhere. Confidants say he has become unsure about his future in Carolina, according to sources familiar with those conversations.”

However, on Wednesday GM Don Waddell told reporters, “Rod wants to be a Hurricane for life. … There’s going to be a solution here very quickly,” giving the impression an extension was in the works.

Whatever the case ends up being with these three, teams seeking a new coach have plenty of experienced voices to choose from if they want to bring in an NHL veteran. Think Craig Berube, Jay Woodcroft, Gerard Gallant or Claude Julien. And, if the NHL clears Joel Quenneville to return to the league, it’s believed teams would be knocking on that door.

At the moment, however, most of the speculation is swirling around Sullivan, since he was given his extension under previous management, and the Penguins’ season is long over. Should he be available, the New Jersey Devils are hotly connected to the current Penguins coach. Sullivan has turned a talented team around before, winning the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh after joining it mid-season in 2015-16. Devils GM Tom Fitzgerald was also an assistant GM with the Penguins when they made the move to Sullivan.

“Now, New Jersey is allowing (interim coach) Travis Green interview for other jobs, just in case he isn’t kept as the head coach, they realize they can’t be unfair to him,” Friedman said. “The word on Jersey is they want to take a big swing. They want to see if there’s a big swing to take out there. Obviously, Jon Cooper and/or Mike Sullivan would be as big a swing as you can take.”

But will any of Sullivan, Brind’Amour or Cooper become available? Or extend their league-leading runs of employment?

“When people are wondering about Mike Sullivan going to the Devils, I think it’s because if the Devils knew a guy like that was available, they would absolutely go after him, but the thing is, and we’ll see how this unfolds, I was under the impression he wasn’t available and was staying in Pittsburgh,” Friedman said.

“It’s not what I’d heard, but that doesn’t mean it’s wrong. It’s just it would be surprising to me, but I think what it says is before teams hire, they want to make sure these guys aren’t actually available. I’ve seen this happen before, I’ve seen teams wait this out before just to make sure. So, it’s not unusual.”