Penguins begin making front office changes as Kyle Dubas takes over as president
PITTSBURGH (KDKA) - Staying true to his word, Kyle Dubas has already gotten to work remaking the Penguins' hockey operations department in his image.
According to a report from Daily Faceoff's Frank Seravalli, three people were let go from the Penguins' front office.
Dubas dismissed Alec Schall, the director of hockey strategy; Teena Murray, senior vice president of sports science; and Kerry Huffman, the director of pro scouting.
All three of those positions were hired by former General Manager Ron Hextall, who was let go by the Penguins following the team's failure to qualify for the postseason for the first time since 2005.
In his introductory press conference this week, Dubas stated that his long-term goal as the newly-hired president of hockey operations would be to build out a first-class organization.
"Work will also begin at delivering a long-term hockey organization that can be the class of the NHL, and to reduce any gap in time that there otherwise would be from the end of those great players' careers to the next era of great hockey for the Pittsburgh Penguins," Dubas said. "Everyone has demonstrated a clear commitment to building a best-in-class hockey operation."
Dubas has said that through the NHL Entry Draft, he will act in an interim role as the team's general manager, and in July, the team will restart the process to possibly find a general manager.
"My intention is that I'll handle that on an interim basis here through to July and then begin to go through candidates and make the decision that's best for the hockey department," Dubas said. "If we do go down that path, I think the type of person we'll be looking for is someone progressive, that can really add an element to the organization that perhaps I don't have as an as a skill set, in some regard."
The NHL Draft is scheduled for June 28-29 in Nashville and the Penguins as of today hold the 14th overall pick.