The future of the Penguins hockey operations remains to be seen
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The Pittsburgh Penguins were supposed to be off Friday.
Typically, a day after their regular season finale, they take a respite to heal injuries and clear their heads before they gear up for the postseason.
And that certainly did take place on Friday.
Just without the part of preparing for hockey in the spring.
A day after the regular season concluded with a 3-2 overtime road loss to the Columbus Blue Jackets on Thursday, the organization opened its offseason in dramatic fashion by firing general manager Ron Hextall, president of hockey operations Brian Burke and assistant general manager Chris Pryor.
A search for a replacement and potentially a new way of operating the franchise has begun.
That was the message delivered by Fenway Sports Group (FSG) executive Dave Beeston (whose title is co-head of Fenway Sports management and Penguins alternate governor) and Penguins president of business operations Kevin Acklin Friday afternoon at the team’s facility in Cranberry.
“For the first time in 16 seasons, a regular season has ended and we aren’t getting ready for the Stanley Cup playoffs,” Beeston said. “FSG’s attraction to the Penguins was and remains the incredibly rich history of championships and the amazing fan base in the city of Pittsburgh. Our goal is to compete for the Stanley Cup every year.”
That won’t happen this year as the Penguins were formally eliminated from postseason contention Wednesday. It was the first time that occurred since 2005-06, Sidney Crosby’s rookie season.
When that happened, the team fired long-time general manager Craig Patrick, one of the most instrumental figures in the history of the franchise and an enshrinee into the Hockey Hall of Fame.
Hextall’s tenure with the Penguins — which lasted a little over 26 months after he was hired in February of 2021 — was not nearly as successful and inadequate for an organization that boasts the highest of expectations.
“Ron, Brian and Chris were great and they served a great role and, look, we are all disappointed in the way the season ended,” Beeston said. “But we’re really focused on the future and moving forward.”
There isn’t much of a road map for how the Penguins will proceed. As Beeston indicated, Friday marked “Day 1” of finding successors. Beeston was hesitant to even outline what kind of attributes FSG would find appealing in a candidate.
“That process will begin immediately,” Beeston said. “When I say immediately, immediately following this (press conference). We’ll move forward and start to put together a list of what those traits are and what those characteristics are. But right now, it’s a clean slate. We’re going to start identifying those traits shortly.”
Beeston was vague in explaining who would lead the hockey operations department. And intentionally so. He indicated FSG — which owns other sporting franchises including Major League Baseball’s Boston Red Sox and the English Premier League’s Liverpool Football Club — is not yet committed to any sort of hierarchy similar to the dynamic between their previous chain of command that involved a president of hockey operations and a general manager.
“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.”
Also open for discussion is the time frame for hiring replacements. In the previous turnover with the Penguins’ general manager office, Hextall and his predecessor Jim Rutherford were hired within weeks of the position becoming open.
For the time being, any hockey operations functions will be addressed on an interim basis by director of hockey operations Alec Schall, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins general manager/manager of hockey operations Erik Heasley and hockey operations analyst Andy Saucier. Coach Mike Sullivan also will provide assistance.
“As soon as possible without rushing,” Beeston said. “We want to make sure we get the right person in place and we run a thorough process. We do know the draft is coming at the end of June. We have a scouting department that has been preparing for the draft for the better part of the season. All of those processes will take place with Alec and Andy and Eric and Mike. But we would like to get somebody in sooner than later. But without ever compromising quality.”
A number of topics were addressed by Acklin and Beeston:
• Whoever heads the hockey operations department will report directly to FSG principal owner John Henry and chairman Tom Werner, according to Beeston.
• When Hextall and Burke were hired in February of 2021, that decision was made by previous majority owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, as well as former team president and CEO David Morehouse. Acklin, then senior vice president and general counsel, was also involved in that process.
What appealed to that group in hiring Hextall and Burke?
“I’m not going to speak for prior ownership as to what their decisions led to, but I’ll just echo what (Beeston) mentioned earlier,” Acklin said. “This is intensely difficult. You have two quality human beings who have families, who are very well respected in hockey circles. Not everything that happened to the team is their fault. I think everybody can take that into account. But (Hextall) and (Burke) were hired at the time because the ownership in place at the time felt that they were best to move forward.”
• FSG remains steadfast in wanting to win around the team’s core players.
“I think the commitment we made last summer, resigning our key players that were free agents that were part of this club forever — (forward Evgeni Malkin, defenseman Kris Letang) — sort of spoke to the commitment and where our focus is,” Beeston said. “And like I said in my statement, we think that this is a team that’s completely capable of competing for (Stanley Cup titles) moving forward.”
• That pursuit certainly includes captain Sidney Crosby, who has two years remaining on his current contract, though, how that marriage continues will be the responsibility of whoever takes over as leader of hockey operations.
“It’s very important that Sidney Crosby to us never plays another year for (anyone) other than the Pittsburgh Penguins,” Beeston said. “We’re Day 1 of thinking about this, so I can’t speak to any role that anybody’s going to have moving forward.”
• The future of Sullivan was left open-ended.
In August of 2022, Sullivan, at the behest of FSG management, signed a contract extension that is scheduled to keep him behind the Penguins’ bench through 2027.
But since winning the Stanley Cup most recently in 2017, the Penguins have not won a playoff series since 2018.
Beeston was asked directly if Sullivan will remain in his role.
“The answer to that is we think Mike Sullivan is one of the best coaches in the NHL,” Beeston. “He was extended (in August of 2022). Once we bring in a new hockey operations leader, he or she will be responsible for evaluating the coaching staff. We think Mike is terrific and we think his whole staff is terrific.”
• Having missed the playoffs for the first time since the mid-2000s, one would assume the team’s business operations will take a hit without the benefit of postseason revenue.
Acklin, without offering specifics, suggested the franchise’s finances are in good shape.
“We’re as strong and as healthy as we’ve ever been,” Acklin said. “That’s because of one reason. That’s because of this fanbase. No matter how well we did this season — we had some streaks where we were winning, we had some streaks where we were losing — but people show up. That is a testament not only to our fanbase but what sports means to the city of Pittsburgh. Growing up here, understanding the Pirates, the Steelers and the Penguins are what carry this city through some very difficult times. We’ve had a very successful year. A lot of hard work has gone into engaging with our fans, understanding how we get people to come to the arena to support this team.
“On the business side, we understand our sole goal is to generate the resources to provide hockey operations what it needs to win. Certainly, I can speak for Dave and ownership, that this ownership group is intensely involved. Dave and I talk every day. I think (Dave) was here for most of the games this year. … At the end of the day, we understand our role is everybody that from the ticket takers at the arena to my role on the business side, is we’re here to support this team so we can win. Certainly, that is what is most important to this ownership group.”
• Finally, the presence of Lemieux, long the face of the franchise, was addressed. Since offloading most of his shares of the Penguins to FSG, Lemieux, currently a minority owner, was rarely a presence around the team during the 2022-23 season.
It was suggested he will be on hand more often moving forward.
“Mario is responsible for this franchise being in Pittsburgh,” Beeston said. “We know that. Even in Boston, we knew that Mario is responsible for this franchise being in Pittsburgh. He still has a small piece of (ownership). He has been living and breathing the Pittsburgh Penguins for 35 years. I think he was very much entitled to a year where maybe he wasn’t around as much. He is, of course, not only welcomed but wanted back whenever he wants. I expect that would be the case moving forward. Working with him, getting to know him through this process was such a special gift for me. He is incredible.”
• Acklin maintains regular discussions with Lemieux.
“I talked to Mario this morning after the news broke (of Friday’s firings),” Acklin said. “He obviously talked to ownership as well, to Tom directly. He was at a game a couple of weeks ago during his fantasy camp. We are also partnering with our foundation. The Pittsburgh (Penguins) Foundation is a square partner with the (Mario) Lemieux Foundation. To Dave’s point, he earned some time on the golf course when he sold most of his interest. He still cares about the team. Obviously, we’d love to see more of him at the arena. That’s something we’ll keep engaging with over time.”