Penguins Make First Round Of Coaching Changes

On this episode, Nick discusses the elimination of the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins from the Calder Cup playoffs and the subsequent dismissal of their coaching staff. He then discusses Penguins NHL assistant coaches Mike Vellucci and Todd Reirden and why they could be the next to be shown the door. Tune In!

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[Music] hello everybody and welcome to Iceberg to go your daily dose of Pittsburgh Penguins news and Analysis you can find us on YouTube at inside the Penguins or anywhere you get your podcast from before we talk about the news of the weekend pertaining to the American Hockey League wils Spar Granton Penguins a quick reminder that tomorrow is our yir yogger bobblehead giveaway there’s two ways to enter first you could subscribe to us at inside the Penguins on YouTube screenshot that proof of subscription and post it under the pin tweet at Iceberg podcast and for a bonus entry leave a festar review on one of Apple podcast or Spotify same rules apply screenshot it post it at Iceberg podcast under the pin tweet and the winner will be selected tomorrow during our Tuesday live stream around 400 p.m. but let’s get into business let’s get into the biggest news surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins throughout the weekend and that was the end of the season for the American League wils Bears Grant Penguins they were swept two to0 in their first round Series against the Lehigh Valley Phantoms they had a three to1 lead going into the third period on Friday of game two but they blew that lead and end up losing in overtime bringing their season to a conclusion in 48 hours after that the Penguins announced that they will not be renewing the contracts of head coach JD for forest or assisted coach Kevin Porter Forest had been the head coach since Mike belucci departed that role for the NHL bench as the assistant for the Penguins back in 2020 and Kevin Porter joined him at the same exact time back in 2020 so for four years it was forest and Porter and now both of them will be looking for new jobs as the Penguins will be looking for a new bench boss at the American Hockey League level so why is that important to the NHL Squad well for one there’s a little bit of history when it comes to the head coach of wils bear ending up in the Pittsburgh Penguins organization at the NHL level obviously the Pens have had three coaches in the Sydney Crosby era that have made that jump from head coach at wils Bear Scranton to head coach of the Pittsburgh Penguins first and foremost it was Michelle tyion back in the early days of Crosby then it was Dan bilma who came up and won a Stanley Cup and then of course the most recent Mike Sullivan so Kyle dubis day one he came in and he said that he’s going to have a larger focus on the American League level on the ECHL level to an extent but specifically that American League level trying to compete for the cder cup as the Toronto Marley did under his tutelage for several years so he’s trying to bring that portion of the organization and lift it up to help add to the NHL roster to give players at the American League level those games where they can play and have games of very big importance play in games that have a lot of meaning late into the season into the playoffs trying to get them used to and accustomed to Big Game feels so that’s what he wants and it only makes sense that after one season he’s going to want to put his guy there not only that we had said over multiple occasions when talking this season about if the Penguins were to move on for Mike Selvin which it has become abundantly clear that that is a very unlikely scenario for the Penguins but if they did a lot of the discussion surrounded around well who are you going to replace him with and the question would then become oh is it just another scenario where it’s the American Hockey League coach that gets the opportunity but then we always would say but I don’t know if JD Forest is quite that type of candidate he’s the that he’s the type of candidate that would be able to just make the jump and have the team turn around on a dime under his tutelage so with that in mind it makes some sense the Penguins were going to let forest and Porter walk so dubis and Jason spsa assistant general manager and the one that is heavily involved with operations down at the American Hockey League level are going to put into place their own guy but what does that mean also for the NHL assistant coaches in Todd Rearden and Mike beluchi a lot of talk about both of these two where they stand as far as the organization is concerned after back-to-back missed postseasons and specifically when you look at Todd Rearden with how that power play performed and how that defense performed over this season you look at both reared and valuchi they signed two-year contract extensions back in 2022 it’s still uncertain as to whether or not they had a year left on their extension at that point at least I have not been able to ascertain whether or not there was a year left so it is unclear at the time at least to me how much time is remaining on their contracts at this moment because there was no announcement back in 20120 when they were initially hired as to how long those contracts were that they signed when they first well when reared and rejoined the Penguins and when valuchi was promoted from the AHL up to the NHL assisten so let’s talk about each of them as it pertains to this season it’s unknown if they have time lift on their contracts but at the same time you look at what TD reared and is done he is obviously the goat in a bad sense for the Penguins he’s the one that everybody looked at for the failures on the power play he’s the one that everybody looked at for the failures the past two seasons on the defense and the numbers don’t lie I mean he was charge of the 30th ranked Penguins power play all season long and it didn’t look like it had any spark 95% of the time of every once in a while they were able to go on a run where they’d score goals in two straight games or three straight games or two goals in back-to-back games for the power play but overall they finished 30th in the National Hockey League and if you look at his track record Reen since he rejoined the Penguins last year they were 14th the year prior to that they were 19th and in his first year back with the Penguins organization in 2020 they were ranked fourth so it has been a very sharp decline since his first year back with the organization but then you also have to look at his defense 26th in expected goals against per 60 Minutes this year were the Pittsburgh Penguins last year they were 21st in 2021-22 they were the best that they’ve been under him at sixth but even the year prior to that they were at 13th so again a mixed bag there but the results more recently have not been good and you’re going into a what fifth season with this exact Trio if you don’t make any moves and two of those Seasons you missed the postseason the other two you lost in the first round if there’s no changes made I think a lot of people would be right to be a little upset at that so I’m not sure what the future holds for for Todd Reen or Mike fuchi for that matter who we’ll get to in a minute but I think Reen is the big name there that a lot of people are looking for a lot of people are curious to see whether or not he retains his job into the 2024 25 season beluchi I haven’t seen a lot of talk about but at the same time you look at where he stands as far as a head coach or assistant coach excuse me he’s had a mixed bag of results with the forwards yes they’ve had some very very good Seasons out of guys like Jared mccan he did a really good job with Brandon tanv Teddy Bluer had a pretty good you know growth spurt underneath Mike fuchi and then he fell off off the One season and the Penguins traded him Joo Conor is another example of somebody that has come along under valuchi but I think if you’re going to get rid of one you might as well I mean I I hate to say it because this is a man’s job but if you’re looking for a fresh start and you know it’s not going to be Mike Sullivan surround him with a completely new cast of characters surround him with a lot of new ideas and fresh perspectives that is what the Penguins need as of right now now rear in a lot of that is performance-based valuchi you look at what he was able to do for the penalty kill it’s been high and low his first year it was 27th in the National Hockey League but since then pretty good third in 2021 16th in 2022 it took a little bit of a dip but they really really were one of the most consistent parts of the Penguins game this season at 10th but when you look at it holistically when you look at dubis and assistant general manager Jason betza looking to get some fresh blood and some new blood and put their guys in place at the American Hockey League level you’d have to imagine that that type of discussion that type of decision making has to follow through to the NHL level again is it likely that Mike Sullivan is gone no in fact it’s downright I don’t want to say impossible but I find it very very very unlikely I guess is the best way to put it that he’s going anywhere unless he wants to leave which there is no indication that he does the best thing that you can do then is bring in some new faces around him and I think Todd Reen is the obvious choice Mike valuchi is another one but you look at both of these guys they’ve been up for head coaching jobs in the last couple of off Seasons they might be up for head coaching jobs again this off season but considering the Penguins recent lack of success and recent missed postseasons there’s a chance that neither of them get looked at in the head coaching cycle and the Penguins should probably be looking for new assistance as soon as the end of May but that’s going to do it for this episode we’ll have to keep an eye on what’s going to happen with rear and valuchi but a little curious that they took less than 48 hours to dismiss both JD forest and a guy like Kevin Porter but we’re still two weeks past the end of the penguin season and they’re mulling over their decisions on Todd reard and Mike fuchi that’s going to be one of the biggest shoes to drop early in this off season we’ll keep an eye on any news that comes out about the Penguin’s assistance but that’s it for this episode of Iceberg to go thank you guys so much for tuning in remember you can find us on YouTube at inside the Penguins or anywhere you get your podcast from [Music]