NHL Rumors: Mike Sullivan Will '100%' Return as Penguins HC After 1st-Round Exit

Pittsburgh Penguins head coach Mike Sullivan will reportedly return for the 2021-22 NHL season even though the team has failed to advance beyond the second round of the playoffs since winning the Stanley Cup in 2017, including three straight first-round exits.

A source told Mike DeFabo of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette on Tuesday that Sullivan is "100 percent" expected to retain his job with the "full support" of president of hockey operations Brian Burke and general manager Ron Hextall.

Sullivan took over as the Pens' bench boss in December 2015 after the in-season firing of Mike Johnston, and he proceeded to guide the franchise to back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017.

Pittsburgh's performance has faded since that initial dominance under the former NHL center. It was eliminated in the second round of the 2018 playoffs while seeking a three-peat and has followed with the early exits from the postseason the last three seasons.

The Penguins have still found plenty of regular-season success in recent years, posting a 121-65-21 record since the start of the 2018-19 campaign, but leading a franchise that's become accustomed to championship-level success during the Sidney Crosby era still landed him on the hot seat.

Sullivan didn't shy away from questions about his status after the team was eliminated last week by the New York Islanders, per DeFabo.

"Ultimately, you get judged on your success," he said Friday. "Our performance in the regular season, I think it would have to be acceptable that we won our division. But having said that, we have higher expectations in Pittsburgh. ... We didn't ultimately live up to that. We all have to take ownership for it."

In all, the 53-year-old Massachusetts native has led the Pens to a 251-131-43 record in the regular season and a 41-34 mark in the playoffs across six seasons. He went 70-56-15-23 during a prior two-season stint with the Boston Bruins (2003 through 2006).

All of the Penguins' key players, led by Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Jake Guentzel and Kris Letang, are under contract to return next season, so expectations will be high once again.

The biggest point of emphasis in the offseason with no coaching change on the horizon could be finding competition for goalie Tristan Jarry, who posted a lackluster .888 save percentage in the playoffs.