Hey, it’s been a minute. Over the past few weeks there hasn’t been a ton of player personnel moves for the Pittsburgh Penguins due to the Stanley Cup playoffs still being in action. They have however completely overhauled their entire coaching staff during this time. Gone is longtime bench boss Mike Sullivan along with his assistants David Quinn, Mike Velluci, and Ty Hennes. It hasn’t been a common thing for the Penguins to do a complete tear down of the staff.
Ironically, the Penguins’ hated cross-state rivals, the Philadelphia Flyers, also have a brand-new staff. Former two-stint Flyers player and Penguins player/ assistant coach Rick Tochet is now at the help. With both Pennsylvania clubs missing the playoffs in recent years, hopefully some fresh blood will rekindle a rivalry that’s gone a bit stale. Meanwhile, the Penguins have bigger things to work on: getting the team back on track is at the forefront.
Muse and his new staff: Bonino
Dan Muse, of course, is the Penguins’ new head coach. He takes over for Mike Sullivan. That’s the old news. Dan now knows who his helpers will be alongside him for the 2025-26 season. The first hire holds a positive place in Penguins history. It is none other than two-time Stanley Cup champion, Nick Bonino.
Bonino is most famous for his overtime winning goal against the San Jose Sharks during the Penguins impressive 2016 playoff run.
Bonino being fresh off of retirement means he does not have a coaching sample to draw from at the moment. He’s jumping right into the fire at the NHL level. One thing he has going for him as a coach was his style of play. I’m not trying to be rude, but his skating speed wasn’t his best asset in the NHL. As a result, he had to make up for it in other ways on the ice and he did. One of the ways he went about it was being a very smart player who was very aware while on the ice. A player who has to nail all the small details of being on the ice and somehow who has done it at the highest level is a good candidate to pass that knowledge down to others. As with any new hire time will tell.
Penguins lure Nelson west from Hershey
Along with Bonino’s hire, came the news of the Penguins hiring one of the very best AHL coaches to join the coaching staff. The Penguins hired Hershey Bears coach, Todd Nelson. He has been doing a lot of winning the past few seasons and was certainly on the radar of NHL teams
Nelson was Edmonton’s head coach in the 2014-15 season. Additionally; he has experience as an assistant coach with the Dallas Stars and Atlanta Thrashers. His recent work with the Bears is what made him an attractive candidate for the Penguins staff. They are a team who must lean on younger talent in the coming year. Meanwhile, who better to work with them than someone who was able to get the most out of players in that age range at the AHL level the past few years? It makes a lot of sense to have Nelson come on and bring that expertise to the team.
Former Marlies and Ducks coach comes aboard
Rich Clune was also hired as an assistant coach. He has NHL playing experience and was known for his more physical attributes on the ice. He spent the lion’s share of his time as a professional with the Toronto Marlies. Clune is somebody with whom Kyle Dubas is very familiar. Clune moved into a coaching role with the Marlies and then with the Anaheim Ducks.
One exception: Andy Chiodo remains with the team as the goaltending coach. Clearly, they don’t fault Chiodo’s coaching for the poor results from the Pittsburgh goaltenders. He has his work cut out for him because as of right now there haven’t been any changes to the goaltending personnel on the team. For the Penguins to actually compete they will need to be better at that position. For now, Chiodo is tasked with trying to make it happen. He has a tough gig.
Impressive braintrust: Now the harder work looms
So there’s the staff. I think it is one geared towards helping and teaching which is going to be the main task in the coming years. Mike Sullivan was a win at all costs kind of coach and that approach isn’t usually kind to players fresh to the NHL. The new staff will have a different mindset for the different task they have in front of them. Early in their tenure their success won’t be measured so much in wins and losses as personal growth for each player. Lightning in a bottle could strike because of the parity in the league. Things could come together for a playoff berth, albeit an unlikely chance with the current roster.
That’s the thing, though. The current roster isn’t likely to be the one the Penguins take into the 2025-26 season. I’m predicting some sizeable trades for Dubas this offseason where he targets RFA aged players or younger. After a boring two months on the Penguins front things are about to heat up with the draft and free agency approaching.
It’s good to be back. Thanks for reading!
