Fenway Sports Groups sale of the Pittsburgh Penguins franchise to David Hoffman and the Chicago based-Hoffman family is not a matter of IF but WHEN. The When could come as early as this week. All expectations are by the start of the season the Hoffman family will be in full control and FSG will be off in the sunset to their many other ventures.

FSG’s Four-Year run as Majority owners is an interesting one to dive into:

The group has been criticized around the league for getting too involved initially and handing too much power to Mike Sullivan on personnel decisions. Ron Hextall has his share of support around the league where as I’ve mentioned before, many believe his run was much better than he was given credit for and it’s helping his stock around the league long-term. The league view on Hextall has long been that FSG officials and Sullivan forced his hand to make veteran win-now moves he was not fully in agreement on, such as the Mike Matheson trade, exposing Jared McCann, and altering his plan that won over the Lemieux group that moving on from aging core members and building long-term around Sidney Crosby/Jake Guentzel was the best chance to compete for multiple years.

Nonetheless, from 2021-2023 FSG tried to win.

They opened the check book on signing bonuses, something that was a struggle for the Lemieux group to do and they rarely did it. FSG believed in paying top salaries for coaches, executives, staff. A lot, though, just didn’t go right with hockey decisions.

Bottom-Line is the group has had one foot out the door once David Beeston, who was the major player in the group behind buying the franchise and top decision maker on roster decisions with the club among the ownership hierarchy, exited the organization in spring 2024. That’s when Kyle Dubas hands financially began to be tied by FSG and while I do believe Dubas is now doing truly doing what he seeks to do with a full rebuild, ownership shutting down the check book on long-term contracts due to visions of selling, has been a major factor in how the last two off-season have played out. Among agents and executives, the signs started around May 2024. Jake Guentzel returning to Pittsburgh as a free agent on July 1 2024 was not a far-fetched idea. In fact, Guentzel orchestrated To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! It was the same story this summer where agents of prominent RFA’s knew not to even consider Pittsburgh due to ownership planning to sale.

What’s Next with the Hoffman Family Likely Taking over?

Kyle Dubas with Five Years left on his contract is To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

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