David Pagnotta from The Fourth Period reports that the Pittsburgh Penguins have contacted coach D.J. Smith regarding their head coaching vacancy. Smith, an associate coach with the Los Angeles Kings, has reportedly interviewed for multiple head coaching vacancies around the league.
It hasn’t been long since he’s been a head coach. Smith was the head coach of the Ottawa Senators from the 2019-20 season until he was fired on December 18 of last year. He finished his tenure in Ottawa with a 131-154-32 record in 317 games without ever leading the team to the postseason. Under Smith’s stewardship, the Senators never finished higher than 18th in GF or 20th in GA.
According to Josh Yohe of The Athletic, it doesn’t sound like captain Sidney Crosby will have much say in the Penguins’ next choice for head coach, but that’s by choice. When pressed on why he didn’t want a say in the process, Crosby replied, “Because, ultimately, I’m a hockey player. I’m not out there coaching games. I am not a manager.” The 20-year veteran clarified his statement further, saying, “If he wants my opinion on someone who’s out there, and someone who is out there that I might have had as a coach before or someone I’ve heard about, then sure, then I’ll share my opinion.”
Other notes from the Metropolitan Division:
- Although the Philadelphia Flyers ultimately hired Rick Tocchet as their next head coach, their most recent head coach was one of the finalists. Pagnotta reported that now-former interim head coach Brad Shaw was nearly hired for the full-time job, and there’s a possibility he remains on Tocchet’s staff as an assistant. Shaw guided the Flyers to a 5-3-1 record in their final nine games of the 2024-25 NHL season.
- According to The Athletic’s Arthur Staple, Brendan Shanahan could be a name to look out for regarding the New York Islanders’ President of Hockey Operations and General Manager vacancies. Shanahan has served as the Toronto Maple Leafs’ President since the 2014-15 season, and his contract expires on June 30th this summer. Should Toronto fail to reach the Stanley Cup Final or Eastern Conference Final, Staple believes the Islanders could encourage Shanahan to make a lateral move to the East Coast, and hire Toronto’s special assistant to the General Manager, Shane Doan, as their next General Manager.
It looks like Shanny will lose his job, The Leafs have shat the bed tonight and should lose the next to FLA in FLA.
No Thank You. We are NOT the New Jersey Islanders. Shanahan is another ex-Devil who while he had a very successful career as a player wasn’t a very good GM in Toronto. Bringing in Shanahan only leaves the door open to bring Grandpa Lou back as an advisor or in some other capacity. I’ve said it before this team needs a fresh young GM who is in tune with todays game. Someone who understands the Cap, knows how good scouting leads to good drafting. and what works in todays NHL. There are to many retreads in management and coaching that just get recirculated around the league. What worked twenty years ago doesn’t necessarily work now.