Pittsburgh Penguins fire assistant coach Todd Reirden after missing out on the playoffs

PITTSBURGH (AP) — The Pittsburgh Penguins fired assistant coach Todd Reirden on Friday, just over two weeks after the organization missed out on the playoffs for a second straight season.

Reirden was in charge of Pittsburgh’s power play. The Penguins struggled while on the man advantage all season despite having a star-studded unit that included Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson. Pittsburgh converted on just 15% of its power play opportunities, 30th in the 32-team NHL.

“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,” general manager Kyle Dubas said in a statement.

The firing ends Reirden’s second stint with the organization. He served as an assistant in Pittsburgh from 2010-14 before moving on to Washington. He spent two years as head coach of the Capitals from 2018-20 before returning to the Penguins.

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AP NHL playoffs: https://apnews.com/hub/stanley-cup and https://www.apnews.com/hub/NHL