Five Candidates Emerge as Possible New Penguins Head Coach
Four teams remain in the National Hockey League without an official head coaching title being announced, with one of the most intriguing openings being the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Penguins have interviewed 5 candidates thus far: Mitch Love, D.J. Smith, Jay Woodcroft, Jay Leach, and David Quinn, via the 32 Thoughts Podcast with Elliotte Friedman. Though there are more than likely other candidates that have been interviewed, let's dive into these 5 possible bench bosses and their possible fit in the Steel City.
Mitch Love: Love’s coaching career began after he retired from professional hockey in 2011, joining the Everett Silvertips of the WHL as an assistant coach until 2018. Love saw a promotion to head coach with another WHL club, the Saskatoon Blades, where he continued to have massive success. He also earned opportunities to coach the WHL All Stars, Canada U17, and Canada U20 World Juniors Teams as an assistant. This took the young coach to the American Hockey League to join the Stockton Heat/Calgary Wranglers for two seasons, which included AHL Coach of the Year honors in both campaigns. Now, after two more seasons paired up with Spencer Carbery in Washington, Love has found his name as one of the hot commodities in this year's coaching carousel. Penguins GM Kyle Dubas mentioned a younger coach was an option, and Love seems to fit the timeline. Many outlets have reported he is the front runner, and the interview blew away Dubas and his staff. If the Penguins don’t scoop up the 40-year-old, look to Boston, Chicago, or Seattle to do so.
D.J. Smith: Similar to Love, Smith began his coaching career the year after his retirement in 2004, with the Windsor Spitfires of the Ontario Hockey League until 2012. He earned his first head coaching role with the Oshawa Generals in 2013, leading them to an OHL Championship and a Memorial Cup Championship in 2015. D.J. then made the jump to the NHL, joining Mike Babcock’s Toronto Maple Leafs. After helping turn the ship around in Toronto, Smith found himself his first NHL head coaching gig with the other Ontario hockey team, the Ottawa Senators. His tenure lasted 4 ½ seasons, going 131-154-32 with the club taking them to zero playoff appearances. Smith quickly caught a job with Jim Hillier in Los Angeles as an assistant and has reemerged as a candidate in this year's coaching market. We have seen many coaches get second, third, and fourth chances, ideally, Smith will get one.
Jay Woodcroft: Woodcroft’s coaching career is much different than many others across the NHL as he started as a video coach with the Detroit Red Wings in 2005 before being promoted to an assistant coach with the San Jose Sharks in 2008. Jay would stay in California until 2015 before heading north to join the Edmonton Oilers as an assistant coach. After two years of NHL time, Woodcroft took over the AHL club as Head Coach, where he found massive success. It was a no-brainer for the Oilers to make him their Head Coach in 2022 to replace Dave Tippett. He would lead the team to playoff appearances in both seasons but never getting over the hump. On a short leash and a bad start in 2023-24 led to his firing, where he has not coached since. Having one of the most difficult first head coaching jobs, Woodcroft will get another shot at being a head coach somewhere. He has worked with Connor McDavid and Leon Draisaitl before, maybe it can work with Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin.
Jay Leach: One of two guys on this list who have some familiarity with the Penguins organization, being an assistant with the AHL club Wilkes-Barre in 2015 for his first North American coaching gig. Leach soon left for the Bruins organization, spending a season as an AHL assistant and then four seasons as the bench boss in AHL Providence. He gained his first NHL experience as an assistant for the Seattle Kraken from 2021-2024 before rejoining the Bruins as an NHL assistant this past season. Leach saw an increased role on the staff after Jim Montgomery’s firing and the promotion of Joe Sacco to interim head coach. The 45-year-old brings a lot of NHL experience from both his playing days and now coaching that could lead him to being a sneaky fit for the Penguins as their new bench boss.
David Quinn: A name Penguins fans are sure to know, as he was part of the most recent Mike Sullivan staff. When looking at experienced coaches, Quinn is the no-brainer winner in that category with his career that started in 1993. The now 58-year-old has worked his way from the collegiate coaching ranks to a five-year tenured head coach in the National Hockey League. After five seasons as the coach of NCAA powerhouse Boston University, Quinn joined the New York Rangers to replace Alain Vigneault. Quinn finished his tenure with a 96-87-25 record over three seasons before his eventual firing. The San Jose Sharks picked him up in hopes of keeping the team competitive during their rebuilding stage, which was doomed from the get-go. Quinn lasted two seasons, going 41-98-25. For familiarity reasons, I can see Dubas going with Quinn as a short-term solution, but if he is serious about making this team younger and more competitive in the off-season, I would shy away.
-Cadeyn McCrory/ Olde City Sports Network
Photo Credits:
Mitch Love photo via Jonathan Kozub
DJ Smith photo via Chris Seward, Associated Press
Jay Woodcroft photo via Jeff Vinnick, NHL
Jay Leach photo via Fred Kfoury III, Icon Sportswire
David Quinn photo via Gene Puskar, Associated Press
