As you’ve probably already heard, the Pittsburgh Penguins made a coaching change earlier today.
They replaced Mike Johnston with Wilkes-Barre Scranton coach Mike Sullivan.
Assistant coach Gary Agnew was also relieved of his duties, while Jacques Martin and Rick Tocchet will stay on as Sullivan’s assistants.
With the Penguins having played last night against the Kings, no player was made available to the media to comment on the firing today, but General Manager Jim Rutherford did speak.
“I felt, with where we are right now and how we played over the first part of the season, that this team has more to give.”
Rutherford took some responsibility for not giving Johnston enough pieces on defense and also admitted that some players need produce more than they have.
Rutherford: "In fairness to our coach, part of this falls on me because I didn't get the defensemen who were necessary."
— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPGH) December 12, 2015
Rutherford: "We never know what a coaching change is going to do. ... We do need to get some more production out of some guys."
— Dave Molinari (@MolinariPGH) December 12, 2015
Failing to get his stars to produce is a major reason why Johnston lost his job this morning.
With star forwards like Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Phil Kessel, the Penguins were expected to be one of the top scoring teams in the NHL.
Not only have they scored the fourth-fewest amount of goals this season, but their power play currently ranks 26th in the NHL at 15.6 percent.
Rutherford admitted that the Penguins had been considering making a coaching change for a while.
Rutherford said the process of considering a change began after the weekend against CBJ and NJ, AKA "We're mad at each other." #Pens
— Wes Crosby (@OtherNHLCrosby) December 12, 2015
Sullivan’s first game as head coach won’t be an easy one. He’ll get a crack at the division-leading Capitals on Monday night.