Penguins next coach: Is Mitch Love the guy?

The Penguins should be closing in on naming their next coach within the next few days and a few common names have been bandied about by national level reporters.

As the Penguins go through their final rounds of HC interviews this week, DJ Smith & Mitch Love remain among the frontrunners in Pittsburgh. Pens are meeting with Smith tomorrow or Friday.

— David Pagnotta (@TheFourthPeriod) May 28, 2025

For what it’s worth, every team-side source I’ve spoken to this week believes Mitch Love will be the next head coach of the Penguins.

— Cam Robinson (@Hockey_Robinson) May 28, 2025

Mitch Love, current assistant coach of the Washington Capitals, is a frequently mentioned name, for the Pens and other job openings. Love is believed to be in the thick of things with the Seattle Kraken and their job opening, though that may or may not be going smoothly based on Seattle wishing to retain an assistant coach. Love is also involved with the Boston Bruins and their coaching vacancy — though unconfirmed reports (voiced by Cam Robinson, in the FWIW category when considering his input on the Pens’ news) have linked Marco Sturm more closely with the Bruins job.

Love, 40, has long been a rising star in the coaching industry. He spent two seasons as an AHL head coach from 2021-23 and has two AHL Coach of the Year awards to show for it. He’s spent the last two years as a Washington assistant coach, getting under the tree of Spencer Carbery (a heavy favorite to be awarded the Jack Adams trophy for NHL coach of the year this season).

You can get a little taste of his personality, outlook and general style in this clip talking about what the Florida Panthers do so well.

Can’t gleam too much out of 45 seconds, but this is obviously a sharp hockey mind with the resume to back it up. Whether it’s Boston, Seattle or Pittsburgh, it seems like Love’s time is coming soon (perhaps even with multiple different options) for where he wants to take the next step. Within a few days we should know if that will be joining up with the Pens to coach Sidney Crosby in 2025-26.