TSN: Darren Dreger when asked if there will be some big changes for the Pittsburgh Penguins following Jim Rutherford’s sudden resignation this week. Dreger says if they miss the playoffs, chances are they will take big strides.
“If new management comes along and says we need to start renovating here, the penguins as an organization owe it Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and to some extent Kris Letangto have a conversation and say this is the direction we are going.
Now Malkin has a year left on his contract after this season, but especially for these players Sidney CrosbyDo you want to hunt a Stanley Cup elsewhere or is it just as important to retire as a Pittsburgh Penguin?
The direction of the club over the next two years will determine how this discussion goes this summer. But imagine if those names were in play at some point in the near future? “
TSN: Pierre LeBrun notes that there are at least 20 potential GM candidates who have contacted the Penguins about the vacancy. Some were the “candidates” themselves and others called on someone else’s behalf.
“Some of the names on the radar for the penguins are Jason Botterill, Chris Drury, Ron Hextall, Mark Hunter, Tom Fitzgerald, who was just a GM in New Jersey, Peter Chiarelli, Scott Mellanby, Mike Gillis, Laurence Gillman, and John Ferguson Jr ., Mike Futa. And again, as I said, others too. Now Patrik Allvin, the temporary GM, will also be a candidate. In fact, he gets the first interview. While the penguins will be talking to a lot of people, they will be shortlisted in a hurry and I was told they want a GM in two to three weeks. “
Frank Seravalli is based on Dreger and LeBrun comments.
“But Dregs, for the reasons you mentioned in addition to walking the tightrope of being the next GM to run. Balancing the win-now mandate David Morehouse mentioned earlier this week with the pain they know will eventually come. It will inherently be a challenge for anyone to want to stay in this chair for a long time trying to balance these two things. So it will be interesting to see how that works out. But I think there are a number of candidates out there who are a bit suspicious and think that this may not be the best optimal opportunity for someone to get back to that chair. “
