One prominent potential candidate took himself out of the running for the Penguins' general manager opening this week.
Kyle Dubas, whose contract with Toronto expires this summer, said at the Maple Leafs' cleanout day on Monday that it's either a return to the Maple Leafs or nothing for him moving forward.
"I definitely don't have it in me to go anywhere else," Dubas said. "So it'll need to be here or it'll be taking time to recalibrate and reflect on the seasons here. You won't see me pop up elsewhere next week."
Just as we've received some clarity on who won't be heading the Penguins' hockey operations department next season, we've also received some clarity on who some of the actual candidates are.
As the Penguins' interviews continue, here's a look at who has been linked to the team so far and what their qualifications are. The Penguins are likely making more than one hire this summer, with the potential to add a president of hockey operations and an assistant general manager in addition to the general manager position, so it's possible that the candidates below are being considered for positions other than general manager.
JOHN CHAYKA
The former Coyotes general manager was among the names reported by Sportsnet's Elliotte Friedman to be in the second stage of interviews for the general manager opening.
Chayka hasn't worked in an NHL front office since the 2019-20 season, when he stepped down as Coyotes general manager prior to the start of the restart of that season and the postseason in the bubble. His resignation was reported by ESPN at the time to be a result of Chayka's relationship with Coyotes ownership souring after Chayka interviewed with the Devils for a position in hockey operations but lied to ownership about the nature of the conversation with the Devils, denying that it was a job interview.
Chayka was with the Coyotes for five seasons -- one as assistant general manager, and four as general manager, taking on the added position of president of hockey operations in his last three years. That was his only NHL front office experience, having come to the Coyotes in 2015 after founding the hockey analytics organization Stathletes.
The Coyotes didn't improve much under Chayka's four years as general manager, finishing sixth, eighth, fourth and fifth in the Pacific Division in those four years. They made the postseason in Chayka's last year as general manager as a result of the added qualifying round -- they wouldn't have been in the postseason without that change that year. Their win in the qualifying round to advance to the first round also came after Chayka's resignation.
In total, the Coyotes went 131-147-38 in those four seasons under Chayka.
ERIC TULSKY
Tulsky is another candidate reportedly in the second stage of interviews. And if the Penguins want someone with a background in analytics, Tulsky's resume is stronger than Chayka's.
Tulsky, who is in his third season as an assistant general manager with the Hurricanes, has been working in Carolina's hockey operations department since 2014. He was hired as a hockey analyst, a title he held for three seasons. He was promoted to director of analytics in 2017 and also gained the additional role of vice president of hockey management a season later.
Tulsky was named assistant general manager in 2020. His bio on the Hurricanes' website says that he "is involved in all player personnel decisions, oversees pro scouting and the team's hockey information department, and assists with player contract negotiations, salary cap compliance, and other hockey-related matters."
Before joining the Hurricanes, Tulsky launched the website Outnumbered, where he published his work with hockey analytics. His work was also published places like The Washington Post, and he has been a featured panelist at MIT’s annual Sports Analytics Conference.
Tulsky has come close to a general manager position before, losing out for the Blackhawks' position last season to Kyle Davidson. Tulsky seems like the Penguins' best bet right now.
MATHIEU DARCHE
Darche was also reported by Sportsnet to be in the second stage of interviews.
Darche had a long professional career of his own. A forward, he played 250 games in the NHL between 2000-12 with the Blue Jackets, Predators, Sharks, Lightning and Canadiens.
Darche is in his first season as assistant general manager with the Lightning. He has also been Tampa's director of hockey operations since 2018, a role that had him involved with player personnel decisions, analytics, player development, contract preparation and negotiation, budgeting, scheduling and cap tracking. He won back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2020 and 2021 with the Lightning.
Darche interviewed with the Blackhawks, Canadiens and Canucks for their general manager vacancies last season.
Before retiring as a player, Darche was on the NHLPA's negotiating committee during the 2012-13 lockout and was on the negotiating committee for the Professional Hockey Players' Association (labor union for both the AHL and CHL) for the AHL's CBA negotiations.
Darche's resume and championship experience with the Lightning make him another intriguing candidate.
DAN MacKINNON
MacKinnon is among those reported by Sportsnet to be in the second stage.
If MacKinnon is hired by the Penguins, it would be his second stint in Pittsburgh. MacKinnon was previously in the Penguins' front office from 2006-16, spending one season as a scout, two as the director of professional scouting, and seven as the director of player personnel.
MacKinnon has spent the last seven years in the Devils' organization, serving as director of player personnel for three years before being promoted to assistant general manager and senior vice president of hockey operations in 2019. For the last two years MacKinnon has taken on the additional role of general manager of the Utica Comets, the Devils' AHL affiliate.
MacKinnon's experience with the Penguins, and work with the Devils through their rise back to becoming a playoff team, could give him an edge.
JASON KARMANOS
Karmanos, too, is among those who have reportedly reached the second stage.
Karmanos, of course, would be another retread for the Penguins. He was with the Penguins from 2014 until he was fired in 2020, starting out as vice president of hockey operations for three seasons and spending three full seasons and part of another as assistant general manager.
After being fired, Karmanos joined the Sabres as associate general manager, a position he has held for the last three seasons. He is also the general manager of the Sabres' AHL affiliate, the Rochester Americans.
Karmanos had a lengthy front office history with the Hurricanes before joining the Penguins, serving as executive vice president and assistant general manager in Carolina from 1998-2013.
Karmanos was around for the Penguins' back-to-back Stanley Cups, and has been part of the Sabres' rebuild that has them on the cusp of returning playoffs. He's one of those candidates who have such a long resume behind them that they seem due for a general manager job eventually, it's just a matter of time.
MARC BERGEVIN
Bergevin was among the candidates reported by Pierre Lebrun to have interviewed for the job in the first stage of Zoom interviews, and it's not clear whether Bergevin is in the second stage.
Bergevin was the Canadiens' general manager and executive vice president of hockey operations from 2012 until he was fired in 2021. The Canadiens went 344-265-81 in 10 seasons under Bergevin and missed the playoffs in three of them -- 2016, 2018 and 2019. He finished as runner-up for general manager of the year twice, in 2014 and 2021.
Bergevin wasn't out of a job long after being fired by Montreal. He's been a senior advisor for the Kings for the last season and a half.
The Canadians' miracle run to the Stanley Cup Final in 2021 was impressive, but how much of Bergevin's success was a result of inheriting one of the league's top goaltenders at the time in Carey Price? One of Bergevin's last significant signings was a disaster, signing defenseman Karl Alzner to a five-year, $23.125 million contract in 2017. Alzner played one season with Montreal before being buried in the minors, and eventually was bought out in 2020.
It seems like there are better candidates out there to hand the reigns to at this stage.
PETER CHIARELLI
Chiarelli is another candidate who was in the first round of interviews, and it's not clear if he has reached the second stage.
Chiarelli has worked with the Blues for the last four years, first as a senior advisor for two years and most recently as vice president of hockey operations. His first general manager job was with the Bruins, a position he held from 2006-15, winning the Stanley Cup in 2011.
Chiarelli's most recent general manager job was with the Oilers, holding the position from 2015-19. Chiarelli joined the Oilers at the same time as Connor McDavid, but failed to build a competitive team around McDavid and missed the playoffs in three of his four seasons in Edmonton. Among his giant flubs in Edmonton were trading Taylor Hall to the Devils for Adam Larsson, signing Milan Lucic to a seven-year, $42 million contract, and trading Justin Schultz to the Penguins for a third-round pick.
Chiarelli's tenure in Boston was a success, but the four-year mess in Edmonton should have him out of the running for the Penguins' job.
KATE MADIGAN
Madigan was reported by Lebrun to be in the first round of Zoom interviews by the Penguins, and it's not clear if she has reached the second stage.
Madigan is another member of the Devils' hockey operations staff that has played a role in the team's resurgence. She's been in New Jersey since 2017, first joining the Devils as a player information and video assistant before being promoted to the director of professional scouting in 2019. She served as the director of hockey operations for two seasons before being promoted again to assistant general manager prior to this past season.
"Kate has been an incredibly valuable resource to not only me, but to our entire hockey operations leadership staff, particularly over the past three years, as part of key hockey decisions," Devils general manager Tom Fitzgerald said at the time of the latest promotion. "This promotion is reflective of the duties and responsibilities that Kate has assumed within our organization during that time. Her diligence, work ethic, attention to detail, ability to communicate with all staff, strategy and vision are qualities that I look for in our leadership. We have a fantastic management team in place that is working together, solely focused on the development and success of this young, evolving core group on and off the ice, and Kate will play a role in leading the way. She has an immensely promising future in the industry, and we are glad to be a part of it."
MEGHAN DUGGAN
Duggan was also reported by Lebrun to be in the first round of interviews. While it's not clear what position that was for, Duggan might be more suited for the assistant general manager position.
Duggan is one of the greatest women's players of all-time and a former captain of Team USA. She is a seven-time World Championship gold medalist, one-time World Championship silver medalist, one-time Olympic gold-medalist and two-time Olympic gold medalist.
Duggan first worked as an assistant coach for Clarkson University's women's team for two seasons during her playing career. After retiring as a player in 2018, she joined the Devils' front office in 2021 and has spent the last two seasons as the team's manager of player development.
Duggan reports to Devils assistant general manager MacKinnon, who is among those candidates in the second stage of interviews. The Devils' team release upon Duggan's hiring says that she works "with a specific focus on on-ice and off-ice information. She will coordinate with the Athlete Care group, Development Coaches and Management on the design, improvement and execution of progress plans for all players within the organization. Duggan will be responsible for staff schedules, synthesizing information regarding prospects and AHL/ECHL players while assessing all players through in-person and video scouting. Additionally, she will join the Devils' staff in on-ice development throughout the year."
If MacKinnon is hired for the Penguins' general manager job, it wouldn't be unreasonable to see Duggan join him in Pittsburgh as assistant general manager given their recent history together.
Duggan has a Penguins tie in her family, too -- her wife Gillian Apps is the daughter of Syl Apps Jr., who played for the Penguins throughout the 1970s.
SAM VENTURA
Ventura was among the candidates who were at least in the first round of interviews, per Friedman.
Ventura would be another returnee to the Penguins if he is hired. He got his start in hockey operations with the Penguins in 2015, serving as a consultant for two seasons before being promoted to the team's director of analytics. He was promoted again in 2020 to director of hockey operations, and served in that role for one year before being hired by the Sabres as vice president of hockey strategy and research. This past season was his second season with the Sabres.
"Forward-thinking" is one of the qualifications that Fenway Sports Group has mentioned looking for in a general manager, and Ventura is one of those candidates who fits the bill.
CAM LAWRENCE
Lawrence was reported by Friedman to be in the Penguins' first round of interviews.
Lawrence is another candidate that might be better suited for the assistant general manager opening rather than the head job, given his experience.
Lawrence is one of a couple hockey analytics consultants for the Blue Jackets, and is in his first year working with Columbus. He previously worked as an amateur scouting consultant for the Panthers from 2015-21.
Fenway Sports Group has mentioned being open to a hire outside of hockey, and while Lawrence does have a smaller role in an NHL hockey operations department, that's not his day job. He's currently based in Pittsburgh and is the chief financial officer of GNC. He previously worked in his hometown Vancouver as a senior financial officer in the biomedical and tech industries. Before being hired by the Panthers, Lawrence also used to write for the Canucks blog CanucksArmy under the name "Money Puck."
Lawrence certainly has the most interesting background of the reported candidates. An outside-the-box voice in hockey operations might be a good thing.
STEVE GREELEY
Greeley was also reported by Friedman to be in the first round of interviews and potentially the second with the Penguins.
Greeley has been the Stars' director of scouting and director of player development for the last two seasons. Prior to being hired by the Stars, he was the Sabres' assistant general manager from 2017-20 until he was fired in an overhaul of the Sabres' hockey operations' department.
Greeley's resume also includes two years as the Rangers' assistant director of player personnel (2015-17), two years as the associate head coach of the Boston University men's team (2013-15), and seven years in different scouting roles with the Kings (2006-13).
"Steve has a strong scouting and analytics background and has shown the ability to research, and digest, numbers and information that help crucial decision-making in drafting, developing and signing players," general manager Jim Nill said of Greeley upon hiring him.
Greeley has a pretty diverse resume but also a pretty forward-thinking mindset when it comes to hockey analytics, making him a strong candidate.
JASON BOTTERILL
Friedman wasn't totally clear whether Botterill had interviewed or not on this week's 32 Thoughts podcast, and there haven't been any other reports on Botterill's candidacy.
Botterill would be another retread for the Penguins if hired. He was in the organization from 2007-17. He was the team's director of hockey operations for two years, assistant general manager for five seasons, and associate general manager for his last three. He also managed Wilkes-Barre/Scranton during his last eight years in Pittsburgh.
Botterill left the Penguins to take the head general manager job in Buffalo, and was fired by the Sabres after three seasons. The Sabres went 88-115-30 under Botterill and never made the playoffs, even with the expanded format in 2019-20 during the season restart after COVID.
One of Botterill's big perceived "misses" at the time in Buffalo was trading Ryan O'Reilly to the Blues for Vladimir Sobotka, Patrik Berglund, Tage Thompson and first- and second-round draft picks in 2018. Sobotka and Berglund never panned out for Buffalo, and Thompson got off to a slow start in Buffalo then missed significant time in his second year in the organization due to injury. But with Thompson developing into one of the top forwards in the NHL and putting up a 94-point season this year at just 25 years old, that trade looked like a win for the Sabres after all.
Botterill has been an assistant general manager for the Kraken for the last three seasons, helping to build the team through the expansion draft and managing them during their first two seasons in the league, making the playoffs this year.
