Fans of the Pittsburgh Penguins won’t have long to wait to see Mike Sullivan behind a bench at PPG Paints Arena.
The two-time Stanley Cup winner and franchise leader in coaches’ wins will be back in Pittsburgh coaching the New York Rangers on Oct. 11.
Sullivan will begin his tenure as Rangers coach against the Penguins as the middle game of ESPN’s season-opening tripleheader Oct. 7. New York will host Pittsburgh at 8 p.m. EDT in each team’s regular-season opener.
Sullivan posted 409 regular-season wins and a franchise-record 44 Stanley Cup playoff wins over his 10-season tenure with the Penguins. He coached Pittsburgh to consecutive Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017.
When Does Mike Sullivan Come Back To Pittsburgh?
Penguins fans seem likely to laud Sullivan’s return to the Steel City even though he will be coming back behind the rival-Rangers’ bench.
The Penguins will play two of their first three regular-season games against Sullivan and the Rangers, with their home opener against the New York Islanders sandwiched between on Oct. 9.
But how Pittsburgh fans feel about Sullivan will depend on how the Penguins fare under first-year coach Dan Muse. After seeing the Rangers twice in the first week, Pens fans won’t have to see Sullivan again until Jan. 31, when the Rangers visit Pittsburgh for an afternoon game.
The teams’ final regular-season head-to-head matchup will be on the last day of February, also an afternoon affair, at Madison Square Garden.
When Do The Penguins Play In Europe?
Sidney Crosby and Kris Letang seem like two of the most likely Penguins players to represent Canada at the 2026 Milano-Cortina Olympics — the first featuring NHL players since the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
Evgeni Malkin will not be participating in the games due to home-country Russia’s Olympics ban from the tournament. But Rickard Rakell and Erik Karlsson, both of Sweden, seem like shoo-ins to represent his home country in Italy when the league takes a three-week break.
But if those players go abroad to the Olympics it will be their second trip across the Atlantic Ocean since the Penguins will also participate in the NHL Global Series in November. Pittsburgh will be in Stockholm, Sweden taking on the Nashville Predators for two games in a rematch of the 2017 Stanley Cup Final.
When Is Alex Ovechkin’s Last Game In Pittsburgh?
Penguins fans who love to hate Alex Ovechkin had better get their last licks in, since the legendary Washington Capitals forward has stated 2025-26 is likely to be his last NHL season before he goes home to Russia as the NHL’s all-time leading goal scorer.
The Penguins and Capitals will inexplicably only play three head-to-heads this season and only once over each team’s first 79 games, Nov. 6 at PPG Paints Arena.
The Penguins and Capitals will face off in a home-and-home series over the season’s final week, and barring a playoff meeting, or a change of heart from Ovechkin, The Great Eight’s final game in the Steel City will be April 11.
Likewise, the final Crosby vs Ovechkin head-to-head dual should be the following day, April 12, 2026 at Capital One Arena in Washington, D.C.
Ex-Penguins Coach To Make Early-Season Return To Pittsburgh With Division Rival