<p>Take Mike Sullivan and Jon Cooper&#8217;s names off of the list of candidates to become the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks&#8217;</a> next head coach.</p>
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<p>Early Friday morning, the New York Rangers announced that they had hired Sullivan &#8212; who parted ways with the Pittsburgh Penguins last week &#8212; as their next head coach.</p>
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<p lang="en" dir="ltr">TO THE CONCRETE JUNGLE 🏙️</p>
<p>The <a href="https://twitter.com/NYRangers?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">@NYRangers</a> have hired Mike Sullivan as their head coach. <a href="https://t.co/U9tJX97GZZ">pic.twitter.com/U9tJX97GZZ</a></p>
<p>&mdash; NHL (@NHL) <a href="https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1918290026791686602?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>Later in the morning, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois shared that Jon Cooper would be returning as the Lightning&#8217;s head coach next season.</p>
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">
<p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/GoBolts?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#GoBolts</a> GM Julien BriseBois says head coach Jon Cooper will be back next season.</p>
<p>&mdash; Benjamin Pierce (@BenjaminJReport) <a href="https://twitter.com/BenjaminJReport/status/1918325428218966288?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 2, 2025</a></p></blockquote>
<p><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script></p>
<p>While neither Sullivan nor Cooper may never have been realistic options for a number of reasons &#8212; <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/full-recap-jim-rutherfords-press-conference-after-tocchets-vancouver-canucks-departure">Rutherford shared earlier this week</a> that his good friend Mike Sullivan wanted to stay out East &#8212; you can&#8217;t blame Canucks fans for dreaming that Vancouver could land one of the few &#8220;elite&#8221; NHL head coaches.</p>
<p>Prior to his departure from the Penguins, Sullivan was one of the NHL&#8217;s longest-tenured head coaches, having been appointed by Rutherford as the Pens&#8217; next coach during the 2015-16 season. He held that position through this season, when the Penguins posted a 34-36-12 record. Sullivan also coached Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off.</p>
<p>For Cooper, his title of longest-tenured NHL head coach isn&#8217;t going away anytime soon. Cooper has coached the Lightning since 2013, and that&#8217;s not going to change anytime soon. The injury-riddled Lightning ran into a buzzsaw in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, falling to the Florida Panthers in five games. The Lightning have been competitive for nearly every season during Cooper&#8217;s tenure, and it comes as little surprise that the organization wants him to stick around. Cooper also coached Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, where he appointed Rick Tocchet as one of his assistants.</p>
<p>And so the search for the Canucks&#8217; next head coach continues, with Sullivan and Cooper now off the board.</p>
<h2><a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/if-vancouver-canucks-couldnt-make-tocchet-stay-what-offer-nhl-coaching-candidates">Read Next: If the Canucks couldn’t make Tocchet stay, what do they have to offer to other NHL coaching candidates?</a></h2>
<p><strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong></p>
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Take Mike Sullivan and Jon Cooper's names off of the list of candidates to become the <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/combinations">Vancouver Canucks'</a> next head coach.
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Early Friday morning, the New York Rangers announced that they had hired Sullivan -- who parted ways with the Pittsburgh Penguins last week -- as their next head coach.

https://twitter.com/NHL/status/1918290026791686602

Later in the morning, Tampa Bay Lightning general manager Julien BriseBois shared that Jon Cooper would be returning as the Lightning's head coach next season.

https://twitter.com/BenjaminJReport/status/1918325428218966288

While neither Sullivan nor Cooper may never have been realistic options for a number of reasons -- <a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/full-recap-jim-rutherfords-press-conference-after-tocchets-vancouver-canucks-departure">Rutherford shared earlier this week</a> that his good friend Mike Sullivan wanted to stay out East -- you can't blame Canucks fans for dreaming that Vancouver could land one of the few "elite" NHL head coaches.

Prior to his departure from the Penguins, Sullivan was one of the NHL's longest-tenured head coaches, having been appointed by Rutherford as the Pens' next coach during the 2015-16 season. He held that position through this season, when the Penguins posted a 34-36-12 record. Sullivan also coached Team USA at the 4 Nations Face-Off.

For Cooper, his title of longest-tenured NHL head coach isn't going away anytime soon. Cooper has coached the Lightning since 2013, and that's not going to change anytime soon. The injury-riddled Lightning ran into a buzzsaw in round one of the Stanley Cup Playoffs, falling to the Florida Panthers in five games. The Lightning have been competitive for nearly every season during Cooper's tenure, and it comes as little surprise that the organization wants him to stick around. Cooper also coached Team Canada at the 4 Nations Face-Off, where he appointed Rick Tocchet as one of his assistants.

And so the search for the Canucks' next head coach continues, with Sullivan and Cooper now off the board.
<h2><a href="https://canucksarmy.com/news/if-vancouver-canucks-couldnt-make-tocchet-stay-what-offer-nhl-coaching-candidates">Read Next: If the Canucks couldn’t make Tocchet stay, what do they have to offer to other NHL coaching candidates?</a></h2>
<strong>Sponsored by bet365</strong>
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