When the Penguins looked for a new general manager in spring 2014, there were many obvious candidates.
The names of Julien BriseBois and Jeff Gorton were some of the most prominent associated with the vacancy. And they made sense. At the time, they were assistant general managers for the Tampa Bay Lightning and the New York Rangers, respectively, and were rising executives who had broad respect in the NHL for how they rated the sport.
(Today, each of these men is the general manager of these franchises.)
So when they hired Jim Rutherford, 65, who was gently removed from his previous role as general manager of Carolina Hurricanes after several dull seasons, it didn’t make sense, at least on the surface.
(Almost seven years since Rutherford took over the Penguins, the two most recent Stanley Cup banners hanging from the rafters of the PPG Paints Arena provide all the sense necessary to evaluate this hiring.)
It is important to look through that prism when trying to find out who the next general manager of the Penguins will be after Rutherford’s surprising resignation on Wednesday.
There are many obvious candidates. But the men who hired Rutherford in 2014 may well leave the board once again to find his replacement in 2021.
With that, here’s a look at five people the Penguins could consider to become their 11th full-time general manager:
Patrik Allvin – Installed as interim general manager after Rutherford left, Allvin worked extensively with the franchise. Initially joining the Penguins as a European scout in 2006, he slowly worked his way up the organization’s hierarchy. In 2012, he became the director of European Scouting and was promoted again in 2017 as Director of Amateur Scouting. Last November, he was appointed deputy general manager.
There are few people who deserve more respect in the Penguins hockey operations department than Allvin, the first Swedish general manager in NHL history.
There are legitimate questions about your experience. His experience lies mainly in talent assessment and he has little history with aspects of employee list management, such as negotiations, resignations, free agency or even the minutiae of the collective bargaining agreement.
But Allvin’s encyclopedic knowledge of organization and work ethics makes him one of the main candidates for this position.
Jason Botterill – Always seen as the “next” general manager during his time with the Penguins as Rutherford’s top lieutenant, Botterill became the general manager of the Buffalo Sabers in 2017, but was fired in 2020 after three bad seasons under chaotic control.
In. January 5, Botterill resurfaced as assistant general manager of the Seattle Kraken expansion franchise under another former Rutherford protégé, general manager Ron Francis.
If the time between the hiring and the resignation of Rutherford had been aligned differently, Botterill could have finally become the general manager of the Penguins (absent for a brief period in 2014 before the hiring of Rutherford).
That said, considering the paint is still drying in Botterill’s new office, jumping into a new job, even if it’s a promotion, can be professionally uncomfortable for all parties involved.
Botterill knows the collective bargaining agreement almost as if he himself wrote the document and knew how to stretch every dollar allocated under the salary cap. Given how uncertain the NHL financial landscape is due to the pandemic, having someone sheltered in the granular details of the league’s fine print in a chaotic time would be a great asset to any franchise.
Chris MacFarland – As assistant general manager of the Colorado Avalanche since 2015, MacFarland played a significant role in restoring that franchise, making it one of the NHL’s most talented and deepest outfits.
In 2017, MacFarland was directly involved in putting together a complicated three-team switch that moved disgruntled striker Matt Duchene to the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Nashville Predators’ award-winning defensive prospect Samuel Girard and the fourth overall selection in the 2019 draft of the senators , a choice used in another defensive star perspective, Bowen Byram.
While the franchise icon Joe Sakic has the final say in all decisions as a general manager, MacFarland deals with all the granular details regarding the salary cap and the collective bargaining agreement.
Last year, MacFarland was interviewed for the vacant position of general manager of the New Jersey Devils.
Pat Brisson – Whenever a general manager position is opened, Brisson, one of the top agents for NHL players, always seems to be a candidate.
Considering that he represents Captain Sidney Crosby and has a relationship with owner Mario Lemieux, Brisson may have no closer ties to any NHL franchise than the Penguins.
Given Brisson’s current calling, he has quite an intricate knowledge of how to maneuver within the limits of the collective bargaining agreement and it is probably fair to say that he has some history with contract negotiations, although on the other side of the table.
Tom Fitzgerald – A key figure in the Penguins’ resurgence as a Stanley Cup candidate in mid-2000, Fitzgerald is currently the general manager of Devils. But there is little evidence that he has a surplus of job security, as he is reportedly working on a one-year contract.
As one of the chief lieutenants of former general manager Ray Shero, Fitzgerald was hired and promoted after Rutherford’s arrival in Pittsburgh. A year later, he went to New Jersey as an assistant general manager, when Shero took over as general manager. In six seasons under Shero, the Devils made it to the playoffs only once, resulting in his resignation in January 2020. Fitzgerald took over provisionally and was promoted full-time in July.
Bringing Fitzgerald back in the season can be next to impossible, but the Penguins are more than comfortable with him personally and professionally. They may be willing to tackle things for the remainder of the 2020-21 season with Allvin temporarily, while bringing in a consultant to help with tasks such as inquiring about potential deals or other aspects of roster management.
This would allow the team to seek a meeting with Fitzgerald in the off-season of 2021.
All of these names make a lot of sense for several reasons. But again, Rutherford didn’t make much sense, at least externally, when he got the job in 2014.
There is little evidence that the Penguins will not have an unlikely replacement again.
Follow the penguins throughout the season.
Seth Rorabaugh is a staff writer for the Tribune-Review. You can contact Seth by email at [email protected] or via Twitter .
Tags:
Penguins / NHL | sports