Penguins Coaching Search: 5 Preliminary Favorites; 3 New Names to Watch

The Pittsburgh Penguins are casting a wide net for a new head coach. Over the next few weeks, virtual conversations and phone calls will begin, and for the first time since 2014, the Penguins will conduct a full-scale coaching search in hopes of finding the right voice and right persona to lead a team through the muck and mire of what lies ahead in the depths of their rebuild.

Or a coach to lead them around the entrapments of rebuilding as they add young players and say goodbye to championship leaders.

Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas promised to “cast a wide net” of candidates from the AHL, college, Europe, and assistant coaches. He seemed to imply that head coaching experience was required, though he didn’t specifically say it. One could presume that with a roster that includes heavyweights such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, and Erik Karlsson, some experience would be enormously helpful.

And with a roster that includes players who can be hard on coaches, such as Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Karlsson, some experience might be absolutely necessary.

Some big names will immediately attract fans (*ahem, Rick Tocchet), but not every coach is dying to come to Pittsburgh. The Penguins’ situation is not what it once was. There will be no Stanley Cup parade in the immediate future, and there probably won’t even be a playoff fight for some time.

Neither is the Penguins’ pipeline flush with young talent just waiting to make the show. There are several prospects, perhaps a couple more, that will arrive next season, but the organization still lacks the next cornerstone(s).

And just to add to the degree of difficulty in the situation, Dubas has never gone through this process before. He hired Sheldon Keefe in the AHL and then basically inherited Keefe in Toronto. And that was that. Dubas obviously inherited Mike Sullivan, too.

Dubas is beginning virtual interviews with a large cast of applicants and interested parties. Then he’ll move on to in-person interviews later next month. And after exhausting all resources and time, they’ll narrow down to their finalists in June and move forward.

In other words, there will be a lot of names to discuss, and a long time to do it. However, in speaking with trusted people inside the game, some names are emerging that go well beyond the microscopic national media focus. Names beyond the University of Denver’s David Carle and Tocchet

Those are the low-hanging fruit, but in reality, neither may be a great fit. Tocchet is 61 years old. He has just one playoff series win, and he seems most fitted for a team ready to win. Carle might be the right type of coach for a rebuilding team, but does a coach want to begin his NHL career with a team headed towards or at rock bottom?

A lot of coaches wouldn’t make it through the coming storms. Carle will have options, and being choosy will make the difference between being called a genius and being called a failed experiment. Carle is either the perfect choice or a no-go, and we’re not sure which, yet.

Dubas needs both a leader and a communicator. He needs a teacher and an instructor. And the Penguins need someone they trust, or history shows the veterans will chew up the coach and spit him or her out.

Dubas also had subtle praise for Washington Capitals coach Spencer Carbery last week. The two have a good relationship, and Dubas could very well start looking for a Carbery type or get some input from him. There are a couple of names connected to Carbery who should be part of the Penguins’ initial conversations.

5 Preliminary Favorites

1. D.J. Smith

One of the names no one has mentioned, so let us be the first. D.J. Smith will be a serious contender for the job, or at least he should be.

It seems Smith has been quickly (and mistakenly) overlooked in this conversation. The former Ottawa Senators bench boss was quite popular within the Ottawa organization, lasted four-plus seasons on a rebuilding team, and has ties to Dubas.

After a decade as a head coach in the OHL (Windsor, Oshawa), the Toronto Maple Leafs hired Smith as an assistant coach under Mike Babcock. In 2019, Smith left to become the Senators’ head coach. His teams steadily improved, reaching 86 points in 2022-23, but his voice began to wear out, and a poor start to the 2023-24 season ended Smith’s tenure.

Upon Smith’s firing, Brady Tkachuk earnestly credited Smith for making him a better player and a better person. Claude Giroux and Tim Stützle also fiercely praised Smith.

For the last two seasons, Smith has been an assistant under Jim Hiller in LA.

The selling points of Smith are many: He has experience and patience for young players, understands the goal of a rebuild, never lost the Senators’ room despite the tough circumstances, and has worked for a great coach (Mike Babcock) and been a part of the success of the LA Kings.

It’s a pretty, pretty good resume for the Penguins situation. If you want to read more about the man and his legacy in Ottawa, I found this article on Silver Seven.

2. Drew Banister

The other name no one has mentioned.

The 51-year-old coach has the prerequisite experience at all levels of hockey. After a playing career which included 164 NHL games, he began his head coaching career in Dubas’s stomping grounds of the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds.

From the OHL, he was elevated to the St. Louis Blues AHL coach, first in San Antonio, then he moved with them to Springfield. In 2022-23, he took over the St. Louis Blues in December when the team moved on from Craig Berube. Bannister led a St. Louis turnaround, getting them close to the playoffs.

They were 30-19-5 under Bannister in the 2023-24 season. However, the Blues were again sputtering at the start of this season before GM Doug Armstrong leaped at the recently fired Jim Montgomery.

Bannister would be a communicator and one who could work with the Penguins’ young players, and has experience both in the NHL locker room, but also with veterans who needed a little kick.

3. Jay Woodcroft

The former Edmonton Oilers coach has dealt with star players of the highest magnitude, Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl.

Woodcroft, 49, was roughed up toward the end in Edmonton. He struggled to create a balanced lineup with a porous defense and shoddy goaltending. It got away from him, but one should also remember that Mike Sullivan failed in similar ways with the Boston Bruins before embarking on a decade-long journey through being an assistant coach, scout, and AHL coach on his way back.

Woodcroft worked his way up from video coach with the Detroit Red Wings (2005) to head coach.

PHN friend coach Francis Anzalone of the Total Package hockey school, who has worked in the game for two decades in the USHL and internationally, told PHN that Woodcroft has spent the last year-plus studying the game and coaching techniques.

Perhaps a second chance would yield better results.

4. Mitch Love

The youngest name on our list.

Love is only 40, which means he’s only a couple of years older than Crosby and Malkin. Love has been a part of the Capitals’ rebuild and has worked closely with Carbery.

Love’s first head job lasted three years with the Saskatoon Blades of the WHL. Then he got the call to the pros, taking the Calgary Flames’ AHL job (Stockton) in 2021. That season, Love won AHL Coach of the Year.

Love again won Coach of the Year in his second season as Calgary moved its AHL affiliate from Stockton to Calgary. Washington snapped him up, adding him to Carbery’s staff. Love oversees the defensemen.

The Penguins could surely use a little more help in that regard. Love is a young coach with a keen eye for the game and understands how to motivate players.

After two seasons in the NHL with Washington, perhaps it’s time for his next promotion.

5. Chris Lazary

The third name you probably haven’t heard is Chris Lazary.

Anazlone was happy to tout Lazary’s bona fides to PHN. If Dubas is looking for a young, innovative coach who knows how to work with young players, Lazary should be on the shortlist.

Lazary, 43, has also impressed fellow coaches with his presentations at coaching clinics and symposiums.

He’s currently the coach of the Saginaw Spirit of the OHL, and the team has been markedly successful during his tenure. His Saginaw reign began in 2018 and culminated with the 2024 Memorial Cup.

It might be time for Lazary to take that next step, but the immediate concern would be–is the NHL too big of a next step? If the Penguins’ veterans buy in, that would safeguard him against some inexperience. If they did not, he’d be in trouble quickly.

Lazary represents a bright, young mind who may impress Dubas as the right combination of energy and hockey smarts–kind of like Dubas impressed people before others thought him to be ready.