Penguins/NHL
The wait is over……
After a six-week search and playing the waiting game, the Pittsburgh Penguins today have officially hired Kyle Dubas as President of Hockey Operations. Dubas will have full autonomy on all hockey decisions throughout the organization.
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This is a massive hire for the Penguins and sale job by FSG. Dubas will be among the highest paid executives in the game and he comes out with full control as a key part of the agreement is believed to be that Dubas will have full authority to make decisions without having to have ownership sign off, a major change for how things operated in Toronto for Dubas.
Two immediate major storylines from the hire is: 1. The General Manager Hire? 2. Mike Sullivan
Many around the league are buzzing that To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! is in the driver seat to be named General Manager To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”! Had Dubas passed on the job and Pittsburgh did set a deadline for this Friday, two sources involved in the situation indicate the team planned to name Dallas Stars executive Steve Greeley as President of Hockey Operations and Tampa Bay’s Mathieu Darche as General Manager. The Greeley camp believed as late as Tuesday afternoon things were heading into that direction and he was set to be offered the job. That’s how close it going to going either way on the Dubas front. Greeley was told this morning the team was going in another direction as the contractual agreement between the Penguins and Dubas did not become official until about an hour before the release and Pittsburgh did not receive a verbal agreement from Dubas until late Wednesday evening, sources say.
— The biggest storyline of all in the immediate is the short and long-term future of Mike Sullivan. Sullivan was gaining more and more power/influence throughout the organization on a number of levels, especially on personnel moves, and the hiring of Dubas puts a pause to that. It will be fascinating to see how Dubas truly feels about Sullivan and does this become a Dubas/Mike Babcock 2.0 situation where it’s just a matter of time he eyes an opportunity for a coaching change. At the minimum this was going to be likely the only hire where the coaching staff gets truly evaluated like they should be than pushed on an in-experienced General Manager and the worst kept secret around the league since Pittsburgh’s pursuit of Dubas is that he’s a big Mike To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!
