Penguins, Mike Sullivan breakup made sense for both parties

The mutual parting of ways between the Pittsburgh Penguins and former head coach Mike Sullivan seemed like it came at the right time.

After a 10-year partnership, the Pens and their longest-serving bench boss decided to call it a day on Monday, putting an end to what was a successful era in the team’s history.

During Sullivan’s nine-plus seasons at the helm, the Penguins won Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017, the first team in the salary cap era to win consecutive championships. The team made it to the playoffs seven times, but things had been on the downturn in recent years.

Under Sullivan, Pittsburgh missed the playoffs for the third straight season, something the team hasn’t done since Sidney Crosby’s first year in the league. The Penguins’ 34-36-12 record marked the first time since 2005-06 that the team finished below .500.

On Monday’s edition of Daily Faceoff LIVE, Frank Seravalli explained why the parting of ways works out for both the Penguins and Sullivan.

Frank Seravalli: I think this is one of those situations that just makes sense for both parties. The Pittsburgh Penguins, in the last couple of years, have gone backwards. They’ve probably got some more pain to come. Kyle Dubas wants, I would think, his own guy in there – make his own hire to coach the team as he sees fit. So, that said, with all the attractive coaching opportunities out there, including the New York Rangers and Boston Bruins like, it’s a great time, if you’re Mike Sullivan, to be a free agent and you can latch on with a team, change it up after being in the same spot for nearly a decade, and put yourself in a position to have a team or coach a team again toward a Stanley Cup.

You can watch the full segment and entire episode here…