In his latest “32 Thoughts” podcast, Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman outlined his latest information on the Pittsburgh Penguins’ coaching search.

The first name he mentioned was Washington Capitals assistant coach Mitch Love.

“I think he’s high on their list,” Friedman said (at 1:33:40 of this link). “Other names I’ve kind of heard (are) Jay Woodcroft, Jay Leach (and) David Quinn I think is one of the guys there. D.J. Smith? I think (David Pagnotta) of The Fourth Period, reported that Smith had interviewed there.”

Smith is the assistant head coach with the Los Angeles Kings. Quinn was an assistant on Mike Sullivan’s staff here. Jay Leach is an assistant with the Boston Bruins and used to coach with the Pens’ affiliate in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton in 2015-16. Woodcroft was the coach of the Edmonton Oilers from 2021-24.

Love also won the AHL’s coach of the year award twice in a row in 2022-23 for his work with Calgary’s affiliate. He is the only person to do that in his first two AHL seasons.

So it certainly appears that Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas is leaning toward hiring a candidate with recent NHL or AHL experience as a head coach or an assistant. It doesn’t look like he has much interest in mining the NCAA or junior ranks, despite suggesting last month that he might do so.

Former Penguins player and assistant coach Mark Recchi says that’s a wise decision by Dubas.

“If you look at the history of college coaches or junior coaches that come into the next level, it really hasn’t worked out very well for many of them,” Recchi said during a recent “Breakfast With Benz”podcast. “I would say it has to be somebody that’s either been an AHL head coach at the pro level and has handled pro players — or an assistant coach that can communicate.”

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Recchi won three Stanley Cups as a player, including one in Pittsburgh during the 1991 playoffs. He was also a player development coach, director of player development and an assistant coach in Pittsburgh from 2014-20.

The Hockey Hall of Famer said it’s important that Mike Sullivan’s replacement has some sort of professional background since he’ll be coaching veterans such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Erik Karlsson.

“You’ve got to be able to get along with Crosby. You’re going to have to communicate very well. He’s your leader on your team. Everything runs through Sid. The tempo at practice, after practices, everything,” Recchi said. “Build that relationship with him. I think that has to be a guy that’s been involved in pro hockey for some years.”

Recchi referred to himself as a “huge fan” of Sullivan and expects him to excel with the New York Rangers. But he also understands Dubas’ thinking when it comes to changing coaches now.

“Hopefully (the new coach) just comes in and gets some new vision. That’s good at times,” Recchi added. “As great as Sully was as a coach, sometimes you need a new vision in an organization. I think it’s important that they go out there and get somebody that can help do that with Sid.”

Also, in the podcast, Recchi and I discuss the Penguins’ attempts at roster reconstruction around Crosby, the state of the NHL playoffs and his involvement with Ryan Malone’s “Black and Gold Breaking The Mold” celebrity hockey game last week.

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