Mark Madden's Hot Take: Ron Hextall is best choice for Penguins GM, right now

Eyebrows were raised when Chris Drury and Scott Mellanby declined to interview for the Pittsburgh Penguins’ vacant GM job.

Drury, 44, is assistant GM for the New York Rangers. Mellanby, 54, has the same job with Montreal. Drury might be the best of up-and-coming NHL executives.

If I were Drury or Mellanby, I wouldn’t take the Penguins job, either.

That’s not because the Penguins aren’t a great organization.

The Penguins spend. They try to win. They have tremendous ownership and a state-of-the-art rink. They have a home sellout streak of 609 games. Hockey matters in Pittsburgh.

The Penguins’ current makeup is a bit checkered. Their stars are aging out but have reasonable cap hits. They have several good young players: Kasperi Kapanen is 24, John Marino 23, P.O Joseph 21. Forwards Samuel Poulin (19) and Nathan Legare (20) are solid prospects. The roster is organically disintegrating, but the new GM won’t take over a disaster.

But becoming a team’s GM 10 games into a season is a bit untenable, especially if (like Drury) you’re likely to get prime job opportunities in the coming offseason.

The Penguins’ new GM won’t be able to truly institute his structure till season’s end. People he wants to hire may not be available. He’s assuming Jim Rutherford’s team and vision.

If the Penguins hire a GM now, he essentially will be his own interim GM till season’s end.

Given the circumstances, the best choice among those likeliest to take the job is Ron Hextall, the former Philadelphia GM. Hextall, 56, got fired by the Flyers in 2018 and would jump at any chance for a GM’s job. His future isn’t as rosy as, say, Drury’s. Not as many options.

The current Flyers are very good. Hextall had a lot to do with that.

As Los Angeles’ assistant GM, Hextall helped assemble Kings teams that won Stanley Cups in 2012 and ’14.

Hextall would be a solid get.

The Penguins might consider allowing interim GM Patrik Allvin to retain that job through season’s end, then hire Tom Fitzgerald once his contract as New Jersey’s GM expires. Fitzgerald, 52, is a former Penguins’ assistant GM. (But what if the Devils extend Fitzgerald?)

The new GM has tough questions to answer, the toughest being: The Penguins are in a win-now mode, but can they? A lot trickles down from that answer.