Ideal Coach for the Penguins Emerges as Insider Urges Kyle Dubas to Make a Move

After missing the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the third straight year, the Pittsburgh Penguins were in need of change this summer, and while many expected that to just involve the playing group, they made the shock call to move on from two-time Stanley Cup winning coach Mike Sullivan.

With Kyle Dubas in Sweden with Hockey Canada, the search for a new Head Coach has gone slowly thus far, and with David Carle now committed to the University of Denver, their options are quickly shrinking.

Reportedly, the Penguins would love to bring back former assistant Rick Tocchet, but now, a reporter on social media has offered up another intriguing candidate: Manny Malhotra.

The 44-year old played almost 1,000 games at the NHL level, and since retiring in 2016, he has served in several coaching positions, as he served as an assistant with the Canucks between 2017 and 2020.

Following that, he spent several years with the Toronto Maple Leafs before getting his first Head Coach role in the AHL in 2024 with the Abbotsford Canucks, and now, the belief is that he could be the next AHL coach to jump to the NHL.

As Rob Rossi points out, someone with 991 games played in the NHL will clearly command respect from the veterans on the roster, while he's got experience coaching younger players in the American Hockey League, and while he's not their first choice, he certainly wouldn't be a bad hire.

For now though, Dubas wants to conduct interviews when he returns from Sweden, so that may mean their options have dried up significantly before the search truly begins, but if the team want a coach for the future, Malhotra certainly isn't a bad option at all.