Say this for Penguins owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle. They’re not afraid to paint in bold strokes. When they make a move, they make a move.
In 2014, they fired GM Ray Shero, architect of a Stanley Cup champion and only 13 months removed from being named General Manager of the Year, following the second-best regular season in franchise history at the time.
Shortly afterward, they hired former Carolina GM Jim Rutherford on the heels of five straight non-playoff seasons with the ‘Canes and some dubious personnel decisions (remember the disastrous Alexander Semin signing?).
Now, in the aftermath of two more Cups and Rutherford’s sudden resignation, ownership has gone all-in while restructuring the front office. Former Flyers GM Ron Hextall, most recently an advisor (and former assistant GM) with Los Angeles, will succeed JR.
That’s not a huge surprise. According to media outlets Hextall, son of former Penguin Bryan Hextall, Jr. and one-time public enemy No. 1 in these parts, had emerged as the front-runner. But the Brian Burke hiring? At least for me, a shocker.
What’s next, Robbie Brown being named assistant GM? (Kidding…interim GM Patrik Allvin will return to his old post.)
Burke will serve as president of hockey operations and report to David Morehouse. Hextall will report to Burke.
An interesting marriage. Noted for his patient approach to team building, Hextall did a terrific job of restocking Philadelphia’s dwindling coffers with young talent. Fourteen of the current Flyers were acquired during his four-plus seasons at the helm, including 11 who were Hextall draft picks.
However, his slow and steady approach eventually ran afoul of Flyers management, leading to his dismissal in November of 2018.
Burke, on the other hand, was known for his brash and sometimes controversial moves during a 31-year career that included stints as general manager with Hartford, Vancouver, Anaheim and Toronto, as well as president of hockey operations for Calgary from 2013-18.
During his tenure with the Maple Leafs, he famously dealt two first-round picks and a second-rounder to Boston in 2009 for scoring ace Phil Kessel in what proved to be an ill-fated move.
Makes me wonder if Burke was brought in to encourage Hextall to be more aggressive in the trade market. There are similarities between the Providence native and the departed Rutherford, a noted wheeler-dealer.
One thing that encourages me about Burke…he has a taste for physical hockey. Is it too much to dream the Pens may become tougher and more balanced under his watch?
We can only dream.
At the very least, I hope the dual hirings spell the end of the deeply flawed, speed-kills-and-everything-else-be-damned approach the Pens have embraced under coach Mike Sullivan.
A final note…both Hextall and Burke have won a Stanley Cup, the former as an assistant GM with the Kings in 2012 and the latter as GM of the Ducks in 2007.
Should be an interesting ride.
Hey Rick,
Great stuff as usual. Sorry to come late to this show but with the technical difficulties the site has had and my wacked out schedule only now getting here.
I actually was surprised to see anyone get hired mid-season. I thought they would wait the season out with an interim GM. Why? Because GM would most assuredly want to evaluate his team (aka coaching staff) and make changes he feels need to happen to match the team HE wants. Every time I took over the helm I would, formally or informally re-interview all my existing employees to see who was open to my vision and who wasn’t.
This move makes me wonder the tenability of Sullivan’s job. With the Rangers earning 1 point last night from an OT loss, our Pens are precariously teetering on the edge of razor and could find themselves in last place in the division by this coming Monday morning.
If the ship isn’t righted, if it still listing by end of the month (4 games against the Caps and 5 against the Isles – including tonight’s game), then it is pretty much over and they need to start auditions for next season.
How can you say that?!?! If you are sitting with only 1 (as we are now) or 2 or even 3 regulation wins after 20 games, even if you make the playoffs with another 25 or 30 wins in 3-on-3 OT hockey and SOs you are going to get your head handed to you in the playoffs where it is 5-on-5 regular rules, sudden death hockey. If you can’t play 5-on-5 GO HOME.
And if this team, as built, isn’t capable of competing(which it doesn’t appear to be able to do) then it is Sully’s fault (which it is) because this is HIS team. HIS finger prints are all over it. The team he took to the Cups was built by Bylsma and Johnston. The teams that were beat by the Caps, swept by the Islanders, and knocked out of the playoff qualifying round (not even the playoffs) by the 24th seed Montreal were the teams HE built. Over the past 5 years the team has gotten him the players HE has wanted, except Reaves, Oleksiak, and Gudbranson – all of whom Sully banished to limited ice-time or the press box.
I have said it multiple times, I am no fence sitter. I don’t wait until the piano falls on my head to acknowledge the obvious. My leash would have been a whole lot shorter and retooling would have started much, much sooner, to try and avoid the all too often fall of a champion into rebuild. So, I wonder how much leash there will be here and what the breaking point may be for starting the revolving door in WBS to see what the kids down there can do with alleged NHL Calibre team mates against NHL Calibre opponents?
If Jankowski doesn’t start scoring again like he did in the first 2 games, is there really much difference between him and even Jordy Bellerive and his burned up hands?
Not sorry, Sceviour, at 31 year of age, is only a road block in the potential development of Lafferty, Angello, or even Bjorkqvist when he can get back from Finalnd (in fact Bjorkqvist, if you recall was part of the most prodective line in the preseason a couple of years ago with Lafferty and Legare but Sully didn’t want him and sent him down to WBS where he got injured).
I have nothing against McCann or ZAR (When he gets back) per se, but neither are setting the team on fire and both could net some future prospect as a throw in to shed a higher salary lump (Letang?). Neither would be light years ahead of what O’Connor, Gruden, Miletic, or Zahorna may bring.
The big question I have right now though is this, tonight with the Islanders on tap does this team play with any passion? It really wasn’t like JR was fired, so do they come to the game, business as usual, like they have the last half of last season and the start of this season? or will the paradigm shift in GMs and Hockey Operations spark emotion again on the bench? will the coach allow physicality on the ice? will the players be engaged? or will our Pens meekly fold their tents and slip into the night?
Should be interesting. Unfortunately I will miss the first 2 periods and have to watch recaps to see what happened early in the game.
Hi Rick,
Wow, what a day!
I’m not surprised about the hiring of Hextall. But Burke…I almost fell off my chair!
He mentioned recently that he didn’t want to go back to the NHL, that he liked his work with the media. Well, I think he felt like turning his life upside down!
I hope that Burke will convince Sully that a little touch of grit and physicality is more than necessary. The Pens are constantly bullied by other teams, especially the big ones. Burke is not a very patient man. If the team still struggles after a few games under his tenure, the leash will be very short for the coaching staff.
Maybe Hextall and Burke will also have to convince Mario and Burkle about long overdue changes. I don’t know. Only time will tell.
Hey Jorenz. So good to hear from you as always!
I’m with you on Burke convincing Sullivan to add some grit. In an article in the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Joe Starkey mentioned a recent game against the Rangers where Jacob Trouba worked over Sidney Crosby without a smidgen of retaliation.
Sorry…that just can’t happen…and wouldn’t happen on any other team. Can’t imagine what seeing your captain getting cuffed around and nobody responding does to a team’s spirit. But it’s de rigueur for Sully’s Pens.
It’s going to be interesting to see how that dynamic plays out. Sullivan is so set on his type of player…and seems so allergic to bigger, more aggressive (and yes, maybe slower) guys. But we need to toughen up.
As it stands now, we almost need to be dragged kicking and screaming into playing with any level of passion…usually in the form of a two-goal deficit. Again, I put this on Sullivan and his aversion to big personalities and spirited guys. You’ve gotta have some fire and spunk. The Pens possess very little.
As an aside to all of this, Burke has worked with Sullivan on Team USA and apparently likes and respects him. At least that’s what came out in the media.
We’ll see how all this plays out.
Rick
PS–Interesting to note that, as wildly aggressive as Hextall was as a player, he did not build an especially tough team in Philly. He actually de-fanged them to an extent and made them more like the Penguins.
“An interesting marriage. Noted for his patient approach to team building, Hextall did a terrific job of restocking Philadelphia’s dwindling coffers with young talent. Fourteen of the current Flyers were acquired during his four-plus seasons at the helm, including 11 who were Hextall draft picks”
I have to laugh at paragraphs like this. The reality is that past performance says little about future actions and/or success. He is in a different situation with a different team and different expectations.
As far as drafting is concerned, it’s basically a matter of luck. Remember when Glen Sather was the Oilers GM. The man was a genius! A great talent evaluator! Then he went to the Rangers and … not so much. Much of success and even sometimes failure is due to luck. Think Tampa got Kucherov in the second round because Yzerman was a great talent evaluator? Tampa just got lucky.
No one knows how Hextall or any of the other candidates would do, especially the AGMs who have never had full responsibility. (How could anybody be strongly in favor of someone Drury, Futa or MacFarland when nobody has any idea of what they have actually ever done?) Everyone in Pgh seems to have forgotten about all the screaming and whining when Rutherford was hired. As lot passed it and look how he screwed up in Carolina! Two cups later, everyone forgets that he was a very unpopular hire. That;s why no one should be happy or sad that the Pens hired Hextall or didn’t hire some other pet candidate. You can’t predict the future in a world where luck plays such an overarching role in outcome.
Hey Stratton,
Interesting take. And, no, past performance doesn’t necessarily provide a fool-proof barometer for future efforts.
I was among those who questioned the Pens’ sanity when they hired Rutherford. He’d presided over a string of non-playoff teams in Carolina. Even his close associate, ‘Canes owner Peter Karmanos, Jr., was critical of him.
JR’s performance during his first year here did nothing to alter my opinion. Then he swung the Kessel trade and was virtually letter perfect with his moves over a two-season stretch. I doubt if another GM ever did better work, unless we refer to another Hall-of-Famer who illustrates your stance.
Craig Patrick made so few moves as GM of the Rangers back in the 1980s that he earned the nickname “Stand Pat” from the New York press. Then he came to the Pens and swung a series of blockbuster trades that led to our first two Cups.
Still, I do think past performance gives you at least some idea of what to anticipate. I sure wouldn’t expect Hextall to start cutting deals all over the yard. And I wouldn’t expect Burke to be ultra-patient, either.
I’m hoping the two can provide a balance for each other. Maybe that’s what ownership is hoping for, too.
Rick