4 Teams Emerge as Possible Landing Spots for Mike Sullivan Following Shocking Firing

There is another Stanley Cup-winning coach who is available on the open market. The Pittsburgh Penguins and Mike Sullivan parted ways on Monday, dropping the axe on his tenure, in which he had two years left on his contract.

Sullivan, who also coached Team USA at the NHL 4 Nations Face-Off, becomes the most sought-after name on the market immediately.

Sullivan started his coaching career with the Providence Bruins prior to spending three seasons with the Boston Bruins. Sullivan is also the father in-law of Bruins defenseman Charlie McAvoy.

Under his leadership, Pittsburgh won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017 but has now missed the playoffs for three straight seasons.

The New York Rangers will likely also be going after Sullivan hard, but the Boston Bruins could be on the list of suitors, too.

The Bruins dismissed Jim Montgomery in November and hired Joe Sacco as the interim coach. They plan on doing a thorough search this off-season. In the meantime, the NHL coaching merry-go-round is spinning even quicker.

Not only are Boston and New York teams of interest, but Chicago, Philadelphia, and Anaheim each have vacancies, and other openings could emerge after the conclusion of Round 1 of the playoffs, per Chris Johnston.

This will further add to the pool of teams searching for a coach and offering greater options for Sullivan.

Sullivan joins a growing group of Cup-champion coaches available, including Peter Laviolette, John Tortorella, Darryl Sutter, Claude Julien, and Joel Quenneville.

It is going to be a very interesting offseason in terms of what teams do with their head coaches.