In a development as shocking as some of his blockbuster trades, Jim Rutherford has resigned as general manager of the Penguins, citing personal reasons. Patrik Allvin, the club’s assistant GM, has been promoted to interim GM effective immediately.
The following statements were released by the team.
“It has been a great honor to serve as general manager of the Penguins, and to hang two more Stanley Cup banners at PPG Paints Arena,” Rutherford said. “I have so many people to thank, beginning with the owners, Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux, and team president David Morehouse. There always has been so much support from everyone involved with the Penguins, both on the hockey and business staffs, and, of course, from a special group of players led by Sidney Crosby. The fans here have been tremendous to me and my family. I know it’s a little unusual to have this happen during a season, but just felt this was the right time to step away.”
“Jim has been an amazing representative of the Pittsburgh Penguins, and he’ll always have a special place in our team’s history, his own legacy,” said Morehouse. “He’ll always be part of the Penguins. On behalf of our ownership, management, staff, coaches and players, we want to thank him for his many contributions, which go far beyond those two Stanley Cups. Jim is a great friend and teammate. We wish him and his family the best.”
More to come I’m sure. For now…I’m stunned.
Penguins Sign Weber
With blueliners Brian Dumoulin and John Marino absent from practice and their defense already decimated by injuries, the Pens signed free-agent defenseman Yannick Weber to a one-year, two-way deal for $700,000. The 32-year-old veteran has spent parts of 12 seasons in the NHL, with stops in Montreal, Vancouver and most recently, Nashville. He played against the black-and-gold in the 2017 Cup Final.
Primarily a third-pairing defender, Weber is neither large (5’11″, 200), physical (a career-high 72 hits in 2016-17) or especially offensive-minded, aside from an 11-goal season with the Canucks in 2014-15. Too, he’s a right-handed shot…puzzling because the Pens need is on the left side.
A warm body to plug a gap for now.
Hi Rick
We all knew this day would come, just like when Shero was forced out. The timing surprises me but not when you look at the big picture. Things are not good in the NHL right now, as with all major sports teams the owners are loosing money and more importantly the Banks are NOT eager to extend any more debt to teams in this uncertain environment.
Mario’s fortune has always been tied to his ownership of this team and right now the value of the pens has been sliding quickly. The real money behind the Pens is Ron Burkle and he too has seen a steep decline in his net worth as retail and wholesale operations continue to collapse under the Covid 19 pandemic, especially in California. Fans need to be aware of this.
The pens are not the team they once were and they have used every trick in the book to make people believe that we can win more Stanley cups in the next 2 to 3 years.
Jimmy is not a stupid man and he knows a major rebuild is necessary! But to do that you have to destroy the economic value of the current team, trade off your core and hope to draft more generational talent in the future and wait 5 to 8 years to try to win a Cup again. Ron and Mario for serious financial reasons can not do that.They need to win now and sell the team when the value is high.
Remember Rick i told you there were always 2 hockey games being played at once! One on the ice and the other in the back rooms.
With no cap space, no ability to trade anyone of real value and a number of teams with much younger and deeper talent pools and more money to work with moving forward the Pens future looks bleak.But no one will say that on record. Hope i am wrong..
Cheers
JIM
Hey all,
Rutherford had this to say to Pierre LeBrun. Hinting strongly that there, indeed, was something that triggered his resignation.
“I don’t think it serves anybody well (to discuss the reasons?). I’ve been treated first-class here and I really appreciate and respect what they’ve done for me. That’s the way I want to leave the Penguins.’’
Rick
Hi Rick!
Well, I’m stunned but not really surprised. The Pens are not the 2015-2016-2017 team anymore. GMJR has almost emptied the prospect bank. Reconstruction is around the corner. The team core (Crosby, Malkin and Letang) is rapidly aging. I don’t think GMJR really wanted to be part of this reconstruction.
Was he afraid of being fired? Was he just plain tired? No one can tell but he is 71 years old. He has the perfect right to do something else in life. Maybe spend more time with his family.
In summary, he did good things at the beginning but for the last three years, bad contracts kept multiplying. I think the trade with Hornqvist-Matheson was the last straw. Players did not react very well (so did the fans) to this trade.
So, GMJR is out. Does it mean that Sully is next? I think it depends on the next GM (not the interim one) hired by the PENS. Or the owners will have something to say about it.
I wish JR well and I hope he will be successful in his future endeavours.
Hi Rick,
I wish he’d done this while Guerin was here.
— 55
I hear ya’ 55.
Wish he’d done it before Matheson, Ceci and Rodrigues.
The list of potential replacement candidates…at least at this point in time…is decidedly underwhelming. I’ve heard Tom Fitzgerald’s name being bandied about. He’s quietly done a nice job in New Jersey while replacing Ray Shero and is in the final year of his contract.
Dale Tallon was linked to the Pens a couple of months ago. Having basically built Chicago’s Cup winners of the past decade and stocked Florida with good, young players (Aleksander Barkov, Aaron Ekblad, etc.), he’s got an eye for talent. But cap management isn’t his strong suit, and the Pens are going to face cap issues in the very near future.
Too, I wonder if the Pens’ job will be seen as a plum assignment, given our aging core, comparatively thin prospect pool and paucity of draft picks. With the team in decline, whoever steps in is going face some tough challenges.
Rick
Hey all,
Just to expand a little on JR, it doesn’t appear that he retired due to health issues. Sounds like he simply needed to step away, recharge his battery and smell the roses a little.
Nor was this a forced retirement. JR’s contract expires at the end of the year, but Pens’ ownership had planned to offer him a new deal.
At this stage, he hasn’t totally ruled out accepting another position (in all likelihood with another team) down the road.
Other Rick and I joked that he probably took a good look at the cap issues and rebuild that he was facing and decided to bail. Kidding…sort of.
In all seriousness, nothing can detract from the incredible work JR did early in his time here. For a two-season stretch he was almost letter-perfect, boldly positioning us for those back-to-back Cups…a feat unmatched in the salary-cap era…through a series of incredibly savvy trades and free-agent signings.
Rick
PS–Just watched Bob Pompeani talking about Rutherford’s resignation on the KDKA evening news. He went to great lengths to stress that it’s a resignation and not a retirement, hinting that there’s perhaps more to this situation than meets the eye. There are whispers that JR may have been trying to move a core player and/or perhaps prospects in a trade but was told no by ownership, but that’s all they are at this stage…whispers. Still, it would stand to reason that something made him resign five months before his contract expired.
Too, David Morehouse didn’t seem overly upset…or shocked…when discussing the resignation.
Hockey insider Bob McKenzie also believes something happened to trigger Rutherford’s decision, but neither JR or the team are willing to talk about it.
Rick
For whatever it’s worth I did hear Mike Babcock’s name mentioned today. It always surrounds the Babcock / Crosby relationship. Also heard the Asst
GM of the Rangers “Drury” I think I have that correct.
Like 55 I wish Guerin was still here – he understands the type of lineup that
it takes to win consistently in this league.
Whoever they bring in I’m hoping he has the backbone to make a blockbuster
trade……..Letang for a warm six-pack…….Lol…..but seriously the guy has to go.
Go Pen’s