Confirmed with Link: It's Started! (Management firings)

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

Some more info from Friedman:

-Darche, Mackinon, Tulsky and one of Greely/Karmanos have moved onto the second round
-He thinks that FSG has talked to Sam Ventura and Cam Lawrence
-Unsure where Boterill stands. He has rejected inteviews for teams before so Friedman has no idea if he talked to FSG

Sounds like Chayka moved onto the second round too. Honestly, I’d be okay with any one of those candidates except for maybe Chayka. Wouldn’t be thrilled with him but wouldn’t hate it like I would Bergevin or Chia.

 

[Malkinstheman]

Can't believe MS is taking part in the hiring of his future boss!!! Only in Pittsburgh lol

I feel like people are reading into this too much. FSG doesnt have much experience with hockey and seeing how they fired most of the front office, they are just getting some help from their HC. FSG already said straight up that Sullivan wont have any input on who the GM will be.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

Some more info from Friedman:

-Darche, Mackinon, Tulsky and one of Greely/Karmanos have moved onto the second round
-He thinks that FSG has talked to Sam Ventura and Cam Lawrence
-Unsure where Boterill stands. He has rejected inteviews for teams before so Friedman has no idea if he talked to FSG

Very promising stuff!
I thought Seravelli confirmed that Botterill interviewed? Not like I want him either way. No more old boys club.

I'd be hopeful with Chayka. He made better moves than most people claim.

 

[Malkinstheman]

Sounds like Chayka moved onto the second round too. Honestly, I’d be okay with any one of those candidates except for maybe Chayka. Wouldn’t be thrilled with him but wouldn’t hate it like I would Bergevin or Chia.

To me it seems like Chayka is basically a shoe-in for the POHO position. Friedman mentioned that he has alot of connections with people in FSG. He also fits the analytics approach that FSG wants to pursue

 

[Deport Ogie]

Very promising stuff!
I thought Seravelli confirmed that Botterill interviewed? Not like I want him either way. No more old boys club.

I'd be hopeful with Chayka. He made better moves than most people claim.

I suppose he does fit the definition but somehow I don't think of Botterill as 'old boys' club. He's still considered mostly forward-thinking in his approach. Or do you mean not bringing back someone who has previous tenure with the team? If so, that excludes Mackinon as well.

Chayka as POHO with a fresh face at GM is decent, I do agree with that however. I still think Tulsky is my preference.

 

[DesertedPenguin]

Some more info from Friedman:

-Darche, Mackinon, Tulsky and one of Greely/Karmanos have moved onto the second round
-He thinks that FSG has talked to Sam Ventura and Cam Lawrence
-Unsure where Boterill stands. He has rejected inteviews for teams before so Friedman has no idea if he talked to FSG

Yeah, this set of second round names - along with Chayka, who Friedman and Marek talked a lot about - makes a lot more sense than Bergevin/Chiarelli considering who FSG has hired in other sports.

One other thing Friedman noted - FSG is very flexible on how they want to structure the front office. They want the best fits, so if that means playing around with job titles in order to "promote" someone from another team, they'll do it.

 

[AuroraBorealis]

I suppose he does fit the definition but somehow I don't think of Botterill as 'old boys' club. He's still considered mostly forward-thinking in his approach. Or do you mean not bringing back someone who has previous tenure with the team? If so, that excludes Mackinon as well.

Chayka as POHO with a fresh face at GM is decent, I do agree with that however. I still think Tulsky is my preference.

Sullivan would be here until the end of time under Botts. He would keep the assistants too, per Sullivan's wishes. He'd get the types of players Sullivan wants, not the type the Pens need.
I don't think his work in Buffalo warrants a ton of optimism anyway.

Tulsky is my preference too, but I wouldn't be mad with Chayka.
I don't know enough about Darche or Mackinon to comment.

 

[Turin]

Friedman is refusing to talk about Boterill because he works with his sister on Sportsnet.

Interesting names left. Lol@ that Sullivan bit.

 

[Buddy Bizarre]

"This is a [Sullivan] thing more than whoever the new [GM] is... and right now [Sullivan] has the hammer with the Fenway guys," One NHL source told InsideAHLHockey.com a few weeks ago.”

I mean for those who don't think Sully has sway with FSG, here is Exhibit A your honor

 

[FSGDontScrewUp]

We've been discussing the GM, but what we really need is a strong front office. Nowadays, it's not just one hockey man running the show. Lets try and hire one or two of these names:

• Eric Tulsky: He's highly regarded and has a great reputation, but some hockey people may not respect him for being a bit of a "nerdier" guy. I'm not sure if Carolina would be willing to let him go.
• Sam Ventura: He's very intelligent and has connections to Pittsburgh. I'm not sure if he has what it takes to be a GM or if he's just an analytics guy.
• Alexandra Mandryck: She's very smart and well-liked, and she would be the first female GM. But would she do well in the role?
• Jeff Greenberg: He's a unique outsider who currently works for the Chicago Blackhawks but comes from the MLB. He has connections to Mario Lemieux, but I'm not sure if he has enough experience in hockey.
• Zac Urback: He's a younger guy with a good reputation. Friedman brought up his name on 31 Thoughts, but questioned if he was too young to be a GM.
• Arik Parnass: Won the cup last year. Another young analytics guy who was mentioned on Friedman's podcast, but like Urback, he may be too young.
• Tyler Dellow: He's extremely smart, but not well-liked. He's not a good ambassador.
• Matt Cane: He's a nice and smart guy, but he seems more like an analytics guy than a GM.
• Cam Lawrence: He's a smart guy, but he's not really a hockey guy. Some articles have been pushing his name, but I'm not sure if he's the right fit for the role because there was a lot of issues when he was involved with Florida.
• Meghan Chayka: She's controversial and has never worked in the NHL, but she runs an analytics company. It's hard to say if she has the necessary qualifications for the job.

4/10 on this list were interviewed. My fingers and toes are crossed for Eric Tulsky

 

[Le Magnifique 66]

I feel like people are reading into this too much. FSG doesnt have much experience with hockey and seeing how they fired most of the front office, they are just getting some help from their HC. FSG already said straight up that Sullivan wont have any input on who the GM will be.

Experience in hockey or not, it makes no sense. That's where maybe FSG should have approached Mario and say, we need help here please... That's my opinion

 

[HandshakeLine]

Just make Sully the Czar of the team and let’s move on to 20 years of mediocre hockey and sticktoiteveness.

Lol we f***ed

 

[Pens x]

Experience in hockey or not, it makes no sense. That's where maybe FSG should have approached Mario and say, we need help here please... That's my opinion

Mario hired Burke and Hextall. He shouldn’t have any input.

Maybe now those who convinced themselves that Sully will have no influence selecting the next GM can stop burying their heads in the sand.

 

[pistolpete11]

I knew FSG would like Chayka because of the analytics stuff.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

I knew FSG would like Chayka because of the analytics stuff.

I guess he has connections to people within FSG too.

 

[WaW]

So as a Liverpool fan, Chayka is probably the most literal parallel to the guy FSG brought in to make player personnel decisions when they first bought Liverpool. Damien Comolli.

Damien Comolli was a guy who generally had the right philosophy about the direction the game was going in particularly around Analytics, but was absolutely terrible at his job in the practical sense. I got the same vibes from Chayka when he was the Coyotes GM. In the Liverpool case, the owners got it right eventually.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

So as a Liverpool fan, Chayka is probably the most literal parallel to the guy FSG brought in to make player personnel decisions when they first bought Liverpool. Damien Comolli.

Damien Comolli was a guy who generally had the right philosophy about the direction the game was going in particularly around Analytics, but was absolutely terrible at his job in the practical sense. I got the same vibes from Chayka when he was the Coyotes GM. In the Liverpool case, the owners got it right eventually.

Yeah this is why I’d be okay with Chayka as POHO but any one of the candidates listed on 32T today as GM. Think he would do better in that role than GM.

 

[hockeywiz542]

Tim Benz: If Kyle Dubas is sincere about his intentions, he may be saving himself — and the Penguins — a headache

If Kyle Dubas is sure that he doesn’t want to be an NHL general manager in another city besides Toronto, then the Penguins shouldn’t try to tempt him to Pittsburgh. I’ve heard some fans and media types speculate that Dubas is just negotiating, that he is downplaying any desire to

triblive.com

A married man and father of two, it’d certainly be understandable if the stress of running the Maple Leafs in a hockey-mad (and Stanley Cup-starved) city such as Toronto resulted in strains on his family members as well. It’s a tough grind. For him, and for them.

Many of us have made moves that we think make sense for ourselves professionally until they stop making sense at home.

I’ll pause for a minute if anyone else in the back of the room wants to raise their hand with me. I can type lefty. It’s OK. I’ll wait.

Clearly, the stress of that gig was getting to Dubas by the season’s end. He was frequently seen yelling at officials in the press box during games while throwing water bottles. He even got into it with some fans in Tampa Bay.

Can you blame him? In that gig, in that town, I probably would’ve thrown more than a water bottle. And I probably would’ve been drinking something stronger than water in the first place.

I know the inclination is to say that, in Pittsburgh, it won’t quite be the pressure cooker that Toronto is.

That’s true. It won’t be.

But it sure as heck won’t be easy, either. The Penguins are an aging team that has already faded fast from its Stanley Cup glory days of 2016-17. The roster is old, overpriced, overrated and contractually restricted.

The fanbase is growing impatient. The new ownership group is out of touch and has yet to change its reputation from that of a bunch of faceless, corporate muckety-mucks.

The goaltending is a mess. The farm system is bereft of talent. The coach is stubborn and caked with power, and the veterans on the team probably have more influence than they should.

Aside from that, boy, is it a wonderful job for a general manager to consider!

Especially for a 37-year-old who may be a bit frayed and on the edge of premature burnout.

Dubas is a bit of a polarizing option as GM. On the one hand, he entered the business as a forward-thinking analytics whiz kid. As of now, he’s built editions of the Leafs that have enjoyed good regular-season success, and he is the first GM to engineer an iteration of that franchise to get a first-round playoff series win since 2004.

 

[ThosePuckingPenguins]

I would love to ask any of our media how FSG is “out of touch?”

 

[Deport Ogie]

I would love to ask any of our media how FSG is “out of touch?”

Did a writer say FSG is out-of-touch?

By any means, I suspect the translation from Penguins beat media language for "out-of-touch" is "won't feed me juicy nuggets in return for my incessant toadying"

 

[Empoleon8771]

Feels like FSG is going to go with Chayka as POHO and an up and coming guy for GM. Happy to hear that guys like Darche, Mackinon and Tulsky are on their short list

I think this is a very good setup if they go this way.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

Interestingly Benz paints Sullivan as stubborn and someone who wields too much power, Which is more or less shocking coming from a local journalist.

It's also highly inaccurate as I've been assured Mike Sullivan is extremely humble and politely demurs whenever his input is asked, as he doesn't wish to overstep the boundaries of his position.

 

[Pancakes]

It's funny how as usual our local media has absolutely jack shit on the gm search.

Every notable tidbit so far has come from like Seravalli, Lebrun, Friedman, etc. Rossi and Yohe just repost whatever Seravalli and them write.

 

[BlindWillyMcHurt]

It's funny how as usual our local media has absolutely jack shit on the gm search.

Every notable tidbit so far has come from like Seravalli, Lebrun, Friedman, etc. Rossi and Yohe just repost whatever Seravalli and them write.

I fail to see their function for the most part.

They've been understandably salty too since their goldmine mouth-diarrhea GM ran off and left them. Now they actually have to attempt to do their job a little. And boy it shows.

 

[Gurglesons]

It's funny how as usual our local media has absolutely jack shit on the gm search.

Every notable tidbit so far has come from like Seravalli, Lebrun, Friedman, etc. Rossi and Yohe just repost whatever Seravalli and them write.

Why is this funny?

Look at how Rossi and Yohe conduct themselves. Why would anyone with a professional background ever talk to those clowns?

Is it no surprise Rutherford who is honestly one of the dumbest people I've ever seen in sports talked to them? He liked people who just repeated what he said.