Penguins insider addresses if Mike Sullivan considered joining Devils

For a piece published Tuesday, Josh Yohe of The Athletic suggested that Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan never came close to leaving the club to join the New Jersey Devils this offseason.

"I don’t doubt the Devils would’ve liked to speak to him," Yohe said about Sullivan. "But there’s no reason to believe Sullivan was interested. Say what you want about whether the Penguins should still employ him. Many fans are through with him, and I get it —2017 was a long time ago. But I wouldn’t question his loyalty to the Penguins. I think he’s obsessed with winning here again. I don’t see him wanting out."

Sullivan guided the Penguins to Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017 but was linked with the Devils earlier this spring. Penguins president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas made it known in April that there had "been no requests and no permissions granted" regarding the Devils possibly speaking with Sullivan. New Jersey introduced Sheldon Keefe as its new head coach on Tuesday.

Per Tim Benz of the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, NHL insider Frank Seravalli reported on "The Daily Faceoff Live" back on April 30 that his understanding at the time was that there was "a bit of a power struggle ongoing between Kyle Dubas and Mike Sullivan." 

Seravalli added that "Dubas would like to make changes to the coaching staff in the assistants, and Mike Sullivan has been resistant (to) that."

Yohe indicated on Tuesday that "there was absolutely nothing to" Seravalli's claim. The Penguins confirmed on May 3 that they had parted ways with associate coach Todd Reirden.

Under Sullivan, the Penguins were responsible for what was the longest active playoff streak in North American sports before last spring. Pittsburgh missed out on the postseason tournament for a second straight season this year.

Understandably, Yohe was asked in his latest mailbag why the Penguins didn't show Sullivan the door considering core players such as captain Sidney Crosby, center Evgeni Malkin, defenseman Kris Letang and fellow defenseman Erik Karlsson aren't getting any younger.

"Ownership likes him," Yohe said about Sullivan. "Dubas likes him. The stars like him. He has two rings."