We don’t know who the Penguins new coach will be, but we are starting to see some candidates erased from the board
There hasn’t been much activity with the Penguins coaching search. That’s to be expected with Kyle Dubas in Europe with Team Canada for the World Championships right now. Dubas mentioned at his press conference after firing Mike Sullivan that the team would likely take until late May or even early June before naming a coach.
One target might be off the board before then, Rick Tocchet is picking up steam from reportedly multiple teams. None of them Pittsburgh.
Strong indications this week Rick Tocchet will soon land another NHL head coaching job. Philly, Boston, Seattle believed to be among the top contenders. The Flyers want to be aggressive. Good fit.
— Darren Dreger (@DarrenDreger) May 13, 2025
One betting site had Tocchet as the favorite to land the Pens’ job. If he takes another job that would add to the list of several other potential candidates via the betting line being out of the running. Joel Quenneville was hired by Anaheim, David Carle, signed a multi-year extension to stay at the University of Denver as two other potential candidates.
The Pens could use the delay to their advantage in terms of waiting to see what happens in the playoffs. If teams like Boston, Seattle and Philadelphia snatch up their coaches soon, that leaves Pittsburgh as one of an increasingly few remaining positions for an assistant coach like Washington’s Mitch Love or AHL Hershey’s Todd Nelson to consider, whenever their respective seasons might end and they become available for interviews.
Dubas mentioned that early rounds of interviews would be conducted virtually but perhaps he can use the circumstance of being in Sweden/Denmark for then next few weeks to meet with a few candidates from near that neck of the woods who might be unconventional but certainly are worthy of consideration.
The Penguins might not be that close to getting their new coach, but based on the reports above it looks like it won’t be Rick Tocchet. That news won’t be received well by some of the fanbase and media but that wish to have Tocchet come back to Pittsburgh now never appeared like it was very close to getting in motion.