The Penguins GM search is on and while they are still open to a wide range of candidates they have allegedly started to whittle the list down. There are five candidates on the supposed list.
Penguins don’t expect to receive permission for one target. They might try to wait another out.
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) January 30, 2021
Their short list (early) emerges for GM search.#Pens | â¦@TheAthleticPGHâ© https://t.co/AFLpyJRbRs
The candidates in alphabetical order from Rob's article are:
Chris Drury John Fergusson Jr. Ron Hextall Chris Macfarland Scott Mellanby
Out of these candidates only Ron Hextall has held the job before. I think the NHL needs to get new blood into GM roles around the league, but the Penguins situation is unique in the sense they didn’t fire their last GM. In fact, he quit on them. They were not prepared. Pittsburgh is clearly cutting costs in the front office due to COVID. After Bill Guerin left they really didn’t try to replace him as far as getting another body in the front office to split the responsibilities. They promoted from within with Patrik Allvin and Sam Ventura. If they thought Rutherford was going to step away midseason I imagine, even if they wanted to cut costs, they would have moved forward with a more robust front office. Because of this situation I think the Penguins need somebody they can throw into the fire right away with a minimal learning curve. Perhaps if this was in the offseason they would have had more flexibility, but they don’t.
The Philadelphia Flyers are where they are right now because of Ron Hextall. He did a pretty good job of building up their prospect pool and those players have evolved and become regulars in the current lineup. The issue Hextall had was that he was “too patient…. Now, you can argue he was the proper amount of patient considering the results, but the Penguins are not in the same situation the Flyers were in. There is no patience needed for the Penguins gig They have like two years at most left to get it in gear. They need somebody willing to take action and fix their mediocre depth. Can Hextall do it? Maybe. He would at least be able to hit the ground running. I don't think he is a bad candidate, but perhaps a bad fit for the specific needs of the franchise at the moment.
From the candidates listed Chris MacFarland is the most interesting on this list for me. Colorado has done a remarkable job building up into a Cup contender. They are all in on using all the tools they have available and yes that includes diving into the analytics. They hired for Dawson Sprigings and Arik Parnass and they clearly utilize their services. Colorado is doing things right. I would wager that their Assistant GM is not only on board, but a contributing member to the overall success of that franchise. While MacFarland does not have the experience of leading a team he has been an assistant GM for the better part of 13 years between Columbus (2008-15) and Colorado (2015-present). I think he would be the most open to using all the different resources available to run a hockey team.
Chris Drury is apparently a non-starter because it is looking like the Rangers will not be granting permission for an interview.
I don’t really have strong opinions in favor of John Ferguson Jr. or Scott Mellanby. Ferguson took over for Pat Quinn as Toronto’s GM in 2003 and was fired in 2008. Mellanby has been with the Canadiens as an assistant GM since 2014. I’d rather entertain the Mike Gillis idea than either of these two choices. At the very least the Penguins should hear his presentation even though it was leaked all over the internet.
Rob Rossi does report that while the following names are not on the short list they will be given interviews: Jason Botterill, Peter Chiarelli, and Mathieu Darche (TB director of hockey operations).
The Penguins already turned away from Botterill so I don’t know why they would go back. Botterill was knee capped by his owners with the Ryan O’Reilly trade, but he sat on his hands for the most part as their GM. Can’t have that in the current situation for the Penguins.
Peter Chiarelli is just a meme at this point. I can’t believe he even gets interviews.
Hearing Darche out wouldn’t hurt given how well run Tampa has been.
There’s always a chance they stick with Patrik Allvin for now and ride things out until the offseason depending on how his interview goes. If nothing else there is no shortage of interest at this point in the Penguins job regardless of the difficult terrain that lies ahead for the eventual successor to Jim Rutherford.
NEW PODCAST Jim Rutherford quit on the Penguins https://t.co/wML5Yyox5E pic.twitter.com/Kyy6oYkhgt
— Ryan Wilson (@GunnerStaal) January 29, 2021
Thanks for reading!