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NHL insider Frank Seravalli blows open Penguins rumors concerning Mike Sullivan
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NHL insider Frank Seravalli blows open Penguins rumors concerning Mike Sullivan

Frank bomb!

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Here's your weekly crazy rumor report from longtime New York Rangers reporter Larry Brooks of The New York Times.

Earlier this week Brooks posted on social media that he had a "scenario presented to him" that would involved Toronto Maple Leafs GM and head coach Kyle Dubas and Sheldon Keefe leaving the Leafs to join the Pittsburgh Penguins, who would in turn fire longtime head coach Mike Sullivan, thereby facilitating that Sullivan take over head coaching duties for the Rangers.

From Brooks:

That'll make your head spin!

The problem, says NHL insider Frank Seravalli, is that Sullivan isn't going anywhere anytime soon, despite the Penguins' struggles this past season. Seravalli reports that there is a "0.0%" chance that Sullivan gets fired from the Penguins and that whoever ends up taking the GM and/or President role in Pittsburgh will have to work with Sullivan in the short term and the long term.

From Seravalli's latest appearance on The Leafs Nation podcast:

"I can just tell you and you can write it down and underline it in bold. There is a 0.0% chance that Mike Sullivan gets fired in Pittsburgh. If, maybe not for John Tortorella, he is the most powerful coach in the league right now. He's a Boston guy who's wired in directly with ownership at Fenway Sports Group. He has a contract that has extended him way past their previous general manager at two and a half times the pay of their general manager. There is, let me repeat, no chance that Mike Sullivan is fired."

- Frank Seravalli

Now, that's not to say that Dubas couldn't end up in Pittsburgh and the Penguins' new GM, but don't count on Keefe following him if that's the case. The ties Dubas has to the Penguins' ownership group can't be denied and if he indeed ends up on the unemployment line this offseason, I could see the two sides coming to an agreement. Just, like Seravalli says, don't expect Sullivan to stand down anytime soon. And really, why should he? He is arguably the greatest coach in Penguins history and clearly still has a lot to give to the team. 

Source: Frank Seravalli