The Penguins on Tuesday named Wes Clark their vice president of player personnel, a newly-created position to oversee the amateur, professional and college/European free agent scouting departments.
Clark was most recently with the Maple Leafs since 2018, where he worked with Kyle Dubas. Clark first served as Toronto's assistant director of player personnel then as director of amateur scouting. Clark is another Soo Greyhounds connection with Dubas, too. Dubas named Clark the Greyhounds' director of hockey operations in his first season as the Greyhounds' general manager, and later promoted him to the Greyhounds' director of player development.
When Dubas joined the Maple Leafs in 2014-15 as assistant general manager, Clark followed as an amateur scout and player evaluation consultant. He then joined the Panthers for two seasons as an amateur scout before coming back to Toronto.
In Pittsburgh, Clark will work with director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor, player development and scouting advisor Trent Mann, and director of professional personnel Andy Saucier, and report directly to Dubas.
“Starting last fall with the addition of Trent Mann as a player development and scouting advisor and the elevation of Andy Saucier to lead our pro scouting department, we have sought to really bolster our player personnel system," Dubas said. "Our personnel decisions in this short term will be critical as we seek to add the draft picks, prospects and young players that will serve to add an infusion of young, hungry players to our core. By adding Wes to lead the departments directed by Nick Pryor and Andy, along with the valuable experience and wisdom that Trent provides, we have tried to put the Penguins in a strong position to go out and execute on our personnel strategy in the short and long run. Having worked with Wes for many years, I have a deep trust in his ability to identify talent, lead staffs, advance our scouting process and methods, learn from mistakes to improve processes and to challenge my own thinking and planning on a near daily basis.”
