It is time for a weekly update on the Penguins’ coaching hunt. As expected, everything has remained relatively quiet since last week. Rick Tocchet has opted to join the Flyers and has left the board. Kyle Dubas is still in Sweden with Team Canada at the World Championships, conducting remote interviews and going through the early stages of the process.
One recent update is a few of the names in the mix, per Elliotte Friedman on his 32 Thoughts Podcast:
These names are all approximately what one would anticipate from the best applicants for available positions these days, and they are by no means all of the people who have had interviews. According to reports, Drew Bannister has also been considered.
Mitch Love is an interesting name to consider. He’s young (turns 41 next month), has had successful coaching turns in the WHL and AHL, where in two seasons Love’s teams had a 96-33-11 record. Love has spent the last two seasons in the NHL, on the Capitals staff as an assistant working with defensemen.
The 45-year-old Leach temporarily worked as an assistant in Wilkes for the Penguins in 2015–16 before being elevated to head coach upon Mike Sullivan’s NHL promotion. Leach has been an NHL assistant for the last four seasons, most notably in Boston last season, and has four seasons of experience as an AHL head coach.
Woodcroft, 48, was a long-time NHL assistant and four-year AHL head coach who got his first NHL head coaching job with Edmonton in 2022. It went well – he guided the Oilers to the Western Conference Final in 2022 and went 76-32-9 in his first season and a half before a slow start in 2023-24 cost him that position.
Smith, 48, provides a wealth of experience. He completed a successful junior coaching career that lasted from 2005 to 2015 by winning a title with Oshawa in 2015. Smith went on to work as a Toronto assistant from 2015 to 2019 (overlapping with Kyle Dubas) before becoming the Ottawa Senators’ head coach for almost four seasons from 2019 to 23. Last season, Smith returned to the Kings’ bench as an assistant.
Quinn, 58, needs little introduction here. He spent last season in Pittsburgh and helped the power play get back on track. Quinn was the head coach of the Rangers from 2018-21 and again in San Jose from 2022-24 after spending significant time in the collegiate ranks coaching (most notably as the BU head coach from 2013-18).
As far as timeline goes, the wait should be over somewhat soon, though not before final interviews happen when Dubas returns to Pittsburgh in late-May.
“My plan is to have a new head coach in place by June 1,” Dubas told The Athletic.
In addition to the Pens, the Boston Bruins, Chicago Blackhawks, and Seattle Kraken are the other four NHL teams currently seeking head coaches.