There hasn’t been a lot of information about the Penguins front office search. The Fenway Sports Group has kept the lid on rumors and other leaks. Outside of their press conference weeks ago we haven’t learned much.
We now have a few details
Sources: Penguins plan to hire for both President of Hockey Ops and GM, continuing same front office structure. They’re quietly getting toward the end of initial round of interviews. #LetsGoPens #pens
— Frank Seravalli (@frank_seravalli) May 10, 2023
List of candidates includes but is not limited to:https://t.co/JuEpT0T4IU
The Penguins will hire a president and a general manager; they’re going to be two separate positions. On top of that, I believe the Penguins, who have been very quiet throughout this process, are nearing the end of their first round of interviews.
Who are some of those people?
I’m going to throw a list of some of the names that have been in the mix. Some of these candidates are for GM, others are for president of hockey operations, so they are speaking to quite a long list of people. Those include: Marc Bergevin, former GM of the Montreal Canadiens, Jason Botterill, current assistant GM for the Seattle Kraken, John Chayka who is also in the Flyers’ search, Mathieu Darche from the Tampa Bay Lightning, and one other name in the mix is Ryan Martin, assistant GM for the New York Rangers.
Disappointing list if I’m being honest. Marc Bergevin is a complete non-starter. Jason Botterill had his opportunity in Buffalo and was very meh.
John Chayka did nothing in Arizona to inspire confidence. In fact, he raised quite a few red flags via his conduct. After signing an extension he went behind his owner’s back trying to land a job with another NHL team. Got caught, was given permission to talk after the playoffs (Coyotes were in bubble in Edmonton), but he took his ball and went home and quit on the team, instead. He was suspended by the NHL for his actions. Chayka was also in charge during the Coyotes combine testing violations costing them a first and second round pick in the draft as punishment. Using analytics as a GM is a step in the right direction, but it doesn’t absolve you if you’re a mess everywhere else.
Mathieu Darche is mildly interesting because Tampa is an organization that swings boldly to keep their cap in compliance while retaining as much talent as they can. They’ve made some interesting trades. I can’t speak to Ryan Martin.
Seravelli admits this is not a complete list just what he has heard. I’m really hoping the unnamed candidates are more appealing and interesting than this.
The two candidates who I think are the most interesting are still in the playoffs with Kyle Dubas and Eric Tulsky. I could see Dubas leaving if Florida wins another game. Tulsky? What is his motivation to leave Carolina? There’s a team who has all their core players locked up, they have draft picks, and they have cap space to spend. They are at the beginning of what should be a competitive run. Don Waddell might have the official title of general manager, but I feel like Tulsky has the job in practice. Waddell is also the President of Hockey Operations. I could see him relinquishing the GM title and keeping the President role while Tulsky gets an official promotion to keep him. At least that’s what I would do.
What could have been an out of the box interesting candidate will not be in play. The Blackhawks denied the Penguins permission to speak to Jeff Greenberg.
#NHLDraftLottery changed nothing for â¦@penguinsâ© — but next GM will have options for how to make use of 14th overall pick.
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) May 9, 2023
What are those options? And what’s new with GM search?
Those answers are in my story for â¦@TheAthleticNHL⩠⬇ï¸
https://t.co/GL3Zj5061p
The Penguins’ policy is to not comment publicly on the search, though The Athletic has learned they were denied permission to interview at least one early candidate, Chicago associate GM Jeff Greenberg, a league source confirmed.Greenberg, a former baseball executive with the Chicago Cubs, was a finalist for the Blackhawks job last year. He is held in high regard by the Blackhawks, who did not want to risk losing him.
That’s pretty much it for now. The waiting continues.
Thanks for reading!