No More Excuses for Kyle Dubas as Penguins Top Executive
p/c: Chaz Palla - TribLive
In the summer of 2023, the Pittsburgh Penguins surprised the NHL landscape by hiring former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager, Kyle Dubas, to be their president of hockey operations.
The Fenway Sports Group felt obligated to give Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, and Kris Letang one last run at a Stanley Cup, and encouraged Dubas to make the trade for star defenseman Erik Karlsson.
Unfortunately, things haven’t gone as planned during Dubas’ first two years in Pittsburgh, which includes a losing season in 2024-25; their first since Crosby’s rookie campaign (2005-06).
While the Karlsson trade has been met with mixed reviews among Penguins’ fans, the two most questionable moves under Dubas are the signings of Tristan Jarry and Ryan Graves. Jarry has struggled in net, and was demoted twice to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton last season. Meanwhile, Graves has been objectively one of the worst defensemen in the league since arriving to the Pens.
On April 28th, the Penguins and head coach Mike Sullivan decided to mutually part ways. Without an official reason given, it seemed clear that Dubas and Sullivan weren’t getting on the same page, in regards to the direction of the team.
Dubas hired Dan Muse to be the Penguins new head coach on June 4th. Muse spent last season as an assistant coach of the New York Rangers, but has an extensive track record in youth development; training the likes of Penguins prospect Rutger McGroarty, and current Utah Mammoth center Logan Cooley.
For Dubas, there’s simply no more excuses. He has a new coach in place, who sees his vision of wanting to make the team younger. Also, Dubas is obtaining prospects by selling off veteran pieces, and is putting more emphasis on the draft. Pittsburgh had 13 picks this year; three of which in the first round.
Much speculation this offseason was that the Pens were likely to move Rickard Rakell and/or Bryan Rust. Neither Rakell or Rust were dealt, so when the time comes to trade either, or both, Dubas better hit big on those deals.
Although it’s a transitional period for the Penguins, Dubas will need to get this team in the right direction sooner rather than later.
Another interesting, and potentially significant wrinkle, is the pending sale of the franchise by Fenway Sports Group to David Hoffmann - the founder and chairman of The Hoffmann Family of Companies.
FSG made the hiring of Dubas, so if new ownership comes into place, then perhaps it’s a shorter leash for Dubas’ time with the Penguins.