Should the Coaches in Pittsburgh and Buffalo Be Worried About Their Job?
TSN Hockey Insider and Athletic writer Pierre LeBrun was on SportsCenter with Jay Onrait and when asked about possible coaching changes in Buffalo and Pittsburgh, he did not think those would happen but anything is possible.
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** NHLRumors.com Transcription
Jay Onrait: “You and I both saw what happened in Buffalo on Tuesday night the fans chanting fire Granato tough situation. I thought like I said I thought Okposo spoke really well. Mike Sullivan also potentially on the hot seat in Pittsburgh. I know they don’t want to go that route. But it has been such a tough season. Pierre are either these guys, in your opinion, close to being relieved of their duties at this point?”
Pierre LeBrun: “Yeah, let’s start with one and then we’ll get to the other, in terms of Don Granato. There’s a couple of things that you have to think about before you answer that question.
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One is that he signed a contract extension last October so you know, 14 months ago, Jay that doesn’t actually kick in till next season. So he signed it quite in advance. Now it’s only a two-year extension that kicks in next year and it’s just under $2 million a year. So in some ways that’s pocket change. You know, for any team that pays players way more than that. But I do think it’s worth pointing out that this extension hasn’t even kicked in yet. So that’s number one.
Number two is Kevyn Adams has really spoken glowingly about Don Granato several times ever since he hired him and then extended him about sharing the same vision about how to develop players and where this team was heading. So I think that’s pretty genuine from Kevyn Adams a GM when he has said those things.
But at the end of the day, if the team doesn’t get out of the spiral, and we’re still talking about this in a couple of weeks, you know it might be difficult not to and at the end of the day Kevyn Adams has to manage up to right he has people to answer to above them. So you know, I don’t think he wants to fire him but we’ll see how the Sabres fare doesn’t get easier. You got the Toronto Maple Leafs with half the build and cheering for the Leafs tomorrow night and in Buffalo now.
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With Mike Sullivan again. Extension because these things are important. They’re real life. Mike Sullivan in August of 22 Jay signed a three year extension that doesn’t kick in until next season. He signed it like two years in advance. That extension a three year extension is worth around 5.5 million US a year, making him one of the highest paid coaches in the NHL.
I mean, listen MLSE paid Mike Babcock like for five years, $5.8 million a year not to coach. So I guess anything’s possible but it would seem to me that it would have to be a really dire situation for Mike Sullivan to get fired by Kyle Dubas. Number two Kyle Dubas came out recently and gave him a real vote of confidence. Number three Mike Sullivan is still regarded as one of the best coaches in the NHL.
So yeah, you know, the only way I could see a change there is If another team actually came to the Penguins after the season Jay and said, We know that extension is about to kick in and we really liked Mike Sullivan. Let’s talk. That would be the one scenario but right now, I don’t see any evidence that Kyle Dubas doesn’t want Mike Sullivan as its head coach despite his team being 13th in the Eastern Conference.”
