The smoke billowed for several days around the Pittsburgh Penguins organization. Unsubstantiated rumors swirled around head coach Mike Sullivan, but Friday, Penguins president of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas fired associate coach Todd Reirden, effective immediately.
There had been reports of disagreement between Sullivan and Dubas over changes to the coaching staff. Reirden oversaw the Penguins’ power play, which fell to 30th in the NHL this season, as well as the defensemen, which were another sore spot in the Penguins’ unsuccessful 2023-24 campaign.
“We are grateful to Todd for his dedication and commitment to the Penguins over two separate stints with the organization,” said Dubas. “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.”
Given the reports of potential disagreement, it’s not unreasonable to note the language of the Penguins’ press release stating Sullivan and Dubas were in agreement.
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Reirden had become a lightning rod for criticism after the Penguins power play failed to improve. He was in his second stint with the Penguins after also being terminated with assistant coach Tony Granato on June 25, 2014. One day later, he was hired by the Washington Capitals as an assistant coach and became the Capitals head coach for two seasons beginning in 2018-19.
Reirden has been with the Penguins since 2020, when he replaced Jacques Martin as an assistant.
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