As much as many people don't like Madden, but his hockey takes are often on point. Here's a few things he said recently about Sullivan. (taken from 2 articles over the past 2 days)
• There’s no “power struggle” between Penguins president of hockey ops/GM Kyle Dubas and coach Mike Sullivan. There is disagreement: Probably over the dismissal of assistant coach Todd Reirden, for example. But disagreement isn’t uncommon. A “power struggle” is when this town isn’t big enough for the two of them. At any rate, Dubas is in charge.
• Sullivan disappointed me when he talked at season’s end about the good things his team did and the Penguins’ strong push to almost make the playoffs. That’s nonsense. Missing the playoffs for a second straight year is unacceptable, and what Sullivan said is unacceptable.
• “Next year, I don’t know if the power play will change at all. I think it’ll do the same things and be just as bad,” Madden continued. “When the power play was that bad, that long, most head coaches would have stepped up and taken over the unit themselves. And Mike Sullivan didn’t. Not a real big show of testicular fortitude on his part, because he didn’t want to get involved with something that was failing. And he didn’t want to have to be the guy to tell these (players) to actually execute as requested.”
• “Sully has got to go. I’m tired of saying, ‘He’s a great coach, but …,’” Madden said. “His resume is front loaded, just like Mike Tomlin’s. And these guys aren’t responding. They’re playing as they like. And the power play was the biggest example of that.”