The Pittsburgh Penguins fired general manager Ron Hextall, his assistant Chris Pryor and president of hockey operations Brian Burke on Friday after the National Hockey League roster was unable to qualify for the playoffs for the first times in 17 years.
The decision to sack the three hockey men comes the day after the conclusion of a very unequal season. The Penguins finished the schedule with a 40-31-11 record, ranked ninth in the Eastern Conference, ending the longest active playoff streak among the major professional leagues in North America. .
In a joint press release, John Henry, owner of Fenway Sports Group, and Tom Werner, president of the company, said that “the team will benefit from new leadership in hockey operations.”
They also said they “believe in the core of players in place and that the goal of being a Stanley Cup contender has not changed.”
Hextall and Burke were hired in February 2021, shortly after the unexpected resignation of former general manager Jim Rutherford, who built a team that won the Stanley Cup in 2016 and again in 2017.
The duo had the mandate to keep together a core of players that includes three pillars of the franchise, namely Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and Kris Letang.
Although Hextall managed to sign Malkin and Letang to new contracts last summer, the majority of decisions to surround this core have had negative consequences.
The Penguins struggled to generate offense beyond their top two lines and received little help from their defensemen except Letang and Marcus Pettersson.
The team’s position in net has also become problematic as injuries and erratic performances at that position have been costly in the 2021 and 2022 playoffs.
The steps to find a new general manager will begin immediately. In the meantime, several members of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, the organization’s American League school club, will take over on an interim basis to direct day-to-day operations.
In addition, head coach Mike Sullivan will also provide support during the transition. This is a sign that the club have no intention of parting with Sullivan, who agreed to a contract extension last fall, which will expire at the end of 2026. -27.