Veteran GM Chances Increasing: Been saying it since the very beginning of the Penguins General Manager/Hockey Operations Leader Search that it would be an absolute stunner around the league that the Penguins primary hire for a hockey operations leader would be an individual that has no prior General Manager experience. While media and pundits are pushing this storyline that FSG is destined to hire an off the board hire or a data driven individual whether they have no experience or not, rival executives just aren’t buying it at this point. Now a little over 10 days into the Penguins hockey operations leader search, the sentiment around the Penguins search is the Pittsburgh brass is honing-in on going the veteran route with the ‘Primary Hire’, while filling out the rest of the new look staff with a young fresh mind or multiple others in that mold as mentioned before. The sense continues to be that Pittsburgh wants to toe-that-line of pairing a veteran General Manager who can combine an old way and new way of thinking with the type of analytics department they’re trying to put together.

— Here’s some latest noise surrounding the search —

How long will Pens wait for Dubas? The Maple Leafs winning a series does not make it a slam dunk that Kyle Dubas is back in Toronto as General Manager. The belief around the league continues to be that Dubas wants to weigh other opportunities. Ottawa will surely wait for him as a prominent new ownership group in the bidding has their sights set on Dubas. One of the wildest rumors in league circles over the weekend was New Jersey Devils ownership being enamored with Dubas and some feel would even be willing to move on from Tom Fitzgerald who’s done a fantastic job, if they could land Dubas. Once the Leafs are knocked out of the playoffs, teams expect it to be quickly known on whether the marriage in Toronto will continue or not. How long will Pittsburgh be willing to wait to potentially speak to Dubas is among the mysteries if the Leafs do indeed advance past Round 1.

Pens Job coveted by veteran GM’s: The easiest thing to decipher in the Penguins search from what’s real and what’s not is who has expressed interest in the job. Among veteran General Manager’s that have expressed strong interest in the job: Former To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

Will Brad Treliving be a factor? Brad Treliving is not To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

Pat Brisson’s Impact on the Search? The Penguins ownership group is new to the NHL and rightfully so, they’ve reached out to powerful folks in the industry to get a feel of things. They’re doing vast research on a a number of different angles. Among those they’ve sought out feedback from early on in the process To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!

Sleeper Name to watch in search: Multiple league sources have brought up To read this insider news, subscribe to get “Inside Access”!