"Dubas doesn't know what to do" "Now Sullivan please!" - NHL fans react as Penguins fire associate coach Todd Reirden

The Pittsburgh Penguins have fired associate coach Todd Reirden after four seasons, the team announced on Friday. The move prompted strong reactions from NHL fans on X.

"LMAO Dubas doesn't know what to do," questioning general manager Kyle Dubas' leadership abilities," one fan tweeted.

Others called for current Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan to be the next on the chopping block.

"Now Sullivan please!" one fan tweeted.

Here are some fan reactions to the Penguins' firing of Todd Reirden:

"Any update on Sullivan!?" one fan tweeted.

"This changes everything for them," another fan tweeted.

"They need to hire a real coach like Jon Gruden," a user tweeted.

"one down, 3 to go," another user tweeted.

This marks the end of his second stint in Pittsburgh after serving as head coach in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton and then as an assistant coach from 2010-2014. Reirden rejoined the Penguins' coaching staff in 2020 after six seasons with the Washington Capitals.

The Penguins' power play under Reirden was a major weakness, ranking 30th in the NHL this season with just a 15.3% success rate. Pittsburgh also allowed a league-high 12 shorthanded goals with Reirden in charge of the man advantage.

On defense, several players brought in to strengthen the blue line like Ryan Graves had underwhelming seasons under Reirden's guidance.

Penguins GM Kyle Dubas' comments about parting ways with associate coach Todd Reirden

Pittsburgh Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas addressed the team's decision to fire associate coach Todd Reirden after four seasons.

"We are grateful to Todd for his dedication and commitment to the Penguins over two separate stints with the organization," said Dubas.

"Mike Sullivan and I have spent time over the past two weeks evaluating the coaching staff, and although these decisions are never easy, we agree that this change was in the best interest of the team moving forward."

The firing came after the Penguins parted ways with their AHL affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's head coach J.D. Forrest and assistant Kevin Porter last week. The decision to part ways came after the team was eliminated early in the Calder Cup playoffs.

In explaining the Wilkes-Barre moves, Dubas emphasized the importance of having elite development at all levels of the organization.

"These decisions come after taking the season to fully evaluate our minor league and development systems," Dubas said. "As we enter into an era where each of those systems operating at an elite level becomes paramount to the future of our entire program."

"We felt it would be best to make the changes that our management team deems important to reaching our goal of having Wilkes-Barre become the (premier) developer of players and staff that can help the Pittsburgh Penguins win Stanley Cups."

We could see more changes as Pittsburgh tries to rebound to contend for cups again.