With the IIHF Men's World Championship wrapped up - and Canada, shockingly, having lost Thursday to Team Denmark - Pittsburgh Penguins GM and POHO Kyle Dubas can shift his focus from managing Team Canada fully to the coaching search for his NHL club.
With a round of interviews already in the rearview, it's about time for a choice to be made. Dubas said upon Mike Sullivan's departure that a new coach would likely be named in early June.
And, on May 26, a clear frontrunner is seemingly emerging.
Mitch Love - assistant coach for the Washington Capitals - has already spoken with the Penguins and the Seattle Kraken about their head coaching vacancies. Dubas and company seemed to be impressed by Love in his first interview, which means he is likely headed for the next phase.
If the Penguins have the option to hire Love as their head coach - and he's willing to take the job - he's absolutely the right choice.
Love began his coaching career in 2011, when he helmed the Everett Silvertips of the Western Hockey League (WHL). He was with the Silvertips until 2018, when he became the head coach of the Saskatoon Blades and led the team to a playoff berth in his first season there.
Two Names Emerge In Penguins' Head Coaching SearchThe NHL head coaching carousel is beginning to pick up some steam across the league, as the Vancouver Canucks hired Adam Foote, the Anaheim Ducks brought on Joel Quenneville, and the Philadelphia Flyers landed on Rick Tocchet.
He was in Saskatoon for three seasons - compiling a .667 win percentage - before he moved on to the Stockton Heat, who are now the Calgary Wranglers. Leading the Flames' AHL affiliate, this is when Love's coaching resume really solidified itself, as he won Coach of the Year honors in back-to-back seasons in 2023 and 2024 and led the team to the ninth-best finish in AHL history in that first season.
His success in Calgary led to him landing a gig with the Capitals as their defensive coach in 2024-25, where he helped maximize the potential of blueliners like Jakob Chychrun, who had a career year with 20 goals and 47 points in 74 games.
Love seems to check all the boxes. He has experience working with defensemen, and the Penguins' blue line is in dire need of some TLC. His resume spans more than a decade. He's a younger, fresh face at just 40 years old.
Coaching Conclaves: Who Should Be Annointed Next Penguins' Head Coach?The Vatican conclave to elect a new Pope has officially concluded, but there are other conclaves generating buzz around the National Hockey League.
And, perhaps, most importantly, he has a track record of success in developmental leagues, which is something Dubas has specified they would be looking for in a head coach.
“We'll have deep questions as we go through the process on what their experience has been developmentally,” Dubas said after Sullivan's departure. "Sully had that. Sully was in player development with Chicago, he coached in the American League, an [NHL] assistant coach...that's something I think, especially now in the salary cap era, you have to be developing your own guys."
There is a pretty good chance that Pittsburgh will hire the 23rd head coach in franchise history sometime within the next week. If that happens, don't be surprised if Love's name is the one announced.
'I Started To Think That It May Just Be Time': Takeaways From Kyle Dubas's Press Conference Regarding Departure Of Mike SullivanOn Monday, Pittsburgh Penguins’ president of hockey operations and general manager Kyle Dubas shook the hockey world when he announced that head coach Mike Sullivan would not be returning to coach the Penguins in 2025-26.
Bookmark THN - Pittsburgh Penguins on your Google News tab to follow the latest Penguins news, roster moves, player features, and more!