In the wake of the Penguins’ disappointing elimination at the hands of Montreal in the NHL play-in series, the Penguins will not be renewing the contacts of assistant coaches Jacques Martin, Mark Recchi and Sergei Gonchar.
“We are in the process of conducting a review of our organization because we have under-performed in the playoffs the last few years,” team general manager Jim Rutherford said, in a statement released by the team. “We just thought we needed to change the dynamic of our coaching staff. We have very high standards here in Pittsburgh, and we want to continue competing for Stanley Cups. The message to our fans is that ‘We are not rebuilding, we’re re-tooling.’ ”
The team named no replacements at this time. Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan is scheduled to speak with reporters this afternoon.
The contracts of all three former assistants were scheduled to expire at the end of June, but were extended because the pandemic led to the Penguins’ season stretching into August.
“We want to thank Sergei, Jacques and Mark for their many contributions to the Penguins over the years, and wish them well in their future endeavors,” Rutherford said.
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