5 candidates for the Penguins’ front office
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Not much is known — publicly, at least — about the Pittsburgh Penguins’ search for a new head of hockey operations, which entered its second week Saturday.
On April 14, the day previous general manager Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke were fired, Fenway Sports Group executive and Penguins alternate governor David Beeston indicated the framework for what the hockey operations department might look like was far from established.
“At the moment, there is no parameters or set format for what we’re going to hire,” Beeston said. “I think that what we’ve learned in all of our endeavors in sport is that these jobs are not one-person, two-person jobs. They are entire department-wide. What we’re focusing on building is that hockey operations machine and something that can build on what we’ve already got, which is exceptional, and improve it.
“So, whether that looks like a president, a president and a (general manager), a president and a (general manager) and four assistant (general managers), I’m not sure. And I don’t think we have any preconceived notion of that yet. But that’s sort of open for discussion.”
It’s fair to discuss how attractive the Penguins’ job (or jobs) is but it is one of only 32 in the world. So they won’t suffer from a poverty of worthy candidates.
Here are five names that make sense, whether they serve as a president of hockey operations or general manager:
Jason Botterill
There was a time when it was assumed Botterill might be the Penguins’ general manager-in-waiting. Hired as director of hockey operations in 2007 by former general manager Ray Shero, Botterill eventually rose to associate general manager under former GM Jim Rutherford. Armed with an MBA from Michigan, Botterill largely oversaw the payroll and exploited every wrinkle in the collective bargaining agreement to allow the Penguins to spend as close to the salary cap as possible.
With the Penguins’ success in winning back-to-back Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and 2017, Botterill — who was also a member of the 2009 championship team — was named as the Buffalo Sabres’ general manager in May 2017.
Botterill’s tenure with the Sabres was nothing even remotely close to successful, and he was fired by June 2020. His shortcomings in the Nickel City were, in part, because of the overall malfunctions of a franchise that has not qualified for the postseason since 2011.
After leaving Buffalo, Botterill, now 46, found safe harbor with the expansion Seattle Kraken as assistant general manager on the staff of general manager Ron Francis. Having played the long game in roster construction, the Kraken qualified for this postseason in its second year of existence.
Emilie Castonguay
One part of Beeston’s news conference April 14 that stood out was his use of the phrase “he or she” when talking about the next head of hockey operations.
Increasingly, women have become more prominent components of NHL front offices, but none have been hired as a president of hockey operations or as general manager.
Currently an assistant general manager with the Vancouver Canucks, Castonguay, 39, wouldn’t necessarily be hired to break a barrier but because she has an impressive resume.
The first woman to be certified as an agent by the NHL Players’ Association, Castonguay — who represented Penguins defenseman P.O Joseph and others before joining the Canucks — has a finance degree from Niagara University, where she played four seasons as a forward. The Quebec native also has a law degree from Université de Montréal and is a member of the Quebec Bar Association.
Hired by the Canucks in January 2022, Castonguay has detailed knowledge of the CBA and has plenty of experience in negotiating contracts.
Mathieu Darche
A member of the Tampa Bay Lightning’s front office since May 2019, Darche’s name regularly has been connected to any and all vacant general manager positions in recent years given the Lightning’s resounding success, including back-to-back Stanley Cup championships in 2020 and 2021, as well as a trip to the 2022 final.
A graduate of prestigious McGill University in Montreal (he has a degree in commerce), Darche has plenty of “real world” experience outside of hockey having worked for Delmar International, a Canadian customs broker and freight forwarder.
Of course, the 46-year-old Darche has plenty of hockey experience on his resume, having carved out a 250-game career as a bottom-six NHL forward throughout the 2000s and early 2010s.
With Tampa Bay, Darche has assisted general manager Julien BriseBois in virtually every aspect of maintaining a roster that has been a Stanley Cup contender for the better part of half a decade (if not longer). The Lightning has remained among the league’s best through building around a core group of players, such as forwards Steven Stamkos and Nikita Kucherov, defenseman Victor Hedman and goaltender Andrei Vasilevskiy while rotating the supplemental crew around them through a blend of trades as well as diligent development.
Kyle Dubas
Once upon a time, Dubas, a former agent, was charged with helping rebuild a storied franchise after Burke’s departure.
Previously a general manager at the junior level with the Ontario Hockey League’s Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Dubas was hired by the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2014 as an assistant general manager to general manager Lou Lamoriello. Helping the Maple Leafs navigate through a rebuilding project, Dubas had a role in dealing away carryovers such as forward Phil Kessel and defenseman Dion Phaneuf, each prominent acquisitions during Burke’s tenure as general manager.
Eventually, the Maple Leafs were able to compile a core comprising the likes of star forwards Mitch Marner, Auston Matthews and William Nylander. All the while, Dubas served as general manager of the Maple Leafs’ American Hockey League affiliate, the Toronto Marlies, leading that club to the Calder Cup championship in 2018.
After the 2017-18 season, Lamoriello’s contract was not renewed, and Dubas assumed the general manager role. Since Dubas has held that office, the Maple Leafs have been one of the NHL’s most successful outfits in the regular season but have never moved past the first round of the postseason (a level of futility that haunted the venerated franchise since 2004).
The 37-year-old Dubas, who helped make analytics a more mainstream — if not vital — part of crafting NHL rosters, is set to become a “free agent” this offseason as his contract is set to expire. Another first-round exit could lead to a parting of the ways. Alternatively, some level of success this postseason could drive up demand for Dubas.
Brad Treliving
If the Penguins had any kind of basic list of big-name candidates they identified on the day Hextall and Burke were fired, that list changed considerably three days later when Treliving stepped down as the Calgary Flames’ general manager in what was described as a mutual parting.
Reportedly, Treliving and Flames coach Darry Sutter had a less-than-ideal relationship, and that led to Treliving’s departure. Regardless, he has been one of the more respected managers around the NHL since taking over the Flames in 2014.
Previously an assistant general manager with the Phoenix Coyotes, Treliving was hired by the Flames in 2014 and reached the playoffs in five of his nine seasons with that franchise, never getting past the second round.
While the success Treliving enjoyed was meager, so were the resources he had to work with. The Flames operate in the Scotiabank Saddledome, one of the NHL’s oldest venues, which generates limited revenue. And Calgary isn’t exactly a coveted destination within the NHL, in part because of the higher income taxes in Canada.
During the 2022 offseason, after the Flames won the Pacific Division and were jettisoned from the postseason in the second round, 100-point scoring forwards Johnny Gaudreau and Brady Tkachuk each skipped town, and Treliving did an admirable job of replacing them by bringing in forwards Jonathan Huberdeau and Nazem Kadri and defenseman MacKenzie Weegar (though the Flames failed to qualify for the playoffs this past season).
Treliving, 53, is a big proponent of advanced metrics, once telling Sportsnet, “we invest significant money, time, personnel, people to come up with the data we come up with and that’s just not what’s out there publicly.”