Report: Penguins ownership favors firing coach Bylsma, GM Shero could also be terminated

The Pittsburgh Penguins organization, at the ownership level, is still digesting the club's latest May disappointment and is expected to spend the rest of this week plotting a course for the future of the franchise. For the moment, that future does not include head coach Dan Bylsma, according to Pittsburgh Tribune-Review reporter Rob Rossi.

Citing unnamed sources, Rossi writes that Penguins "ownership favored firing Bylsma as of Wednesday," and that general manager Ray Shero - only a season removed from being named the NHL's executive of the year - could also be subject to the axe. 

Penguins' co-owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux are reportedly split on whether or not to retain Shero; with Lemieux favoring the veteran general manager's retention, and Burkle "firmly" believing that the franchise requires a new top executive.

Rossi suggests that Bylsma was tuned out by Penguins players, and repeatedly clashed with superstar centers Evgeni Malkin and Sidney Crosby this season:

Ownership believed Bylsma lost the dressing room this season, specifically the support of franchise centers Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the sources said.

Players were unhappy with Bylsma's numerous meetings and long practices and the decreasing sense of fun within the Penguins' daily environment, the sources said.

Crosby and Malkin also grew disenchanted with perceived harsh criticism they received from Bylsma during meetings, the sources said.

Rossi also appeared on SiriusXM NHL radio on Wednesday, and laid out the argument for firing Bylsma at length:

I'm told that ownership has three reasons why they're thinking about that: 

1) They really don't see an acceptable amount of accountability within the organization. 

2) They have a big problem that their two franchise centerpieces, over the past couple of years, have had the snot taken out of them in the playoffs physically, and there doesn't seem to be anybody on the roster that will do anything about it. That's different from what used to be part of the identity of the Penguins which was a team that had the type of players - and I don't just mean enforcers - who in addition to playing hockey, could sort of, make sure that if somebody was going to try and take liberties with Sidney Crosby or Evgeni Malkin... That that wouldn't fly.

And 3) .... They don't have a whole lot coming. They don't really have anything coming in terms of forwards. We are getting to the point where as great as Crosby and Malkin are, in their late 20s, they may - sooner rather than later - not be guys that are good enough to be guys that are so dominant that they can do it with a limited roster. And the Penguins are paying them a lot of money, so they're going to need to get younger and cheaper somewhere, and with good players too...

Despite a disappointing season - both with the U.S. Olympic team, and with the Pittsburgh Penguins - Bylsma is a highly regarded young coach in the industry. There are currently four head coaching vacancies in the NHL (Carolina, Vancouver, Washington, and Florida), and Bylsma would surely be a shoe-in for one of those jobs, if he wanted it. 

Read Rossi's full report here.