According to TSN’s Pierre LeBrun, “Hearing that Steve Greeley, Director of Hockey Strategy, Scouting and Development for the Dallas Stars, was informed this morning by Fenway Group he was out of running for Penguins GM job. I would assume that means Kyle Dubas has people in mind for that job.” That someone could be Jason Spezza, who left his role with the Toronto Maple Leafs the minute he found out that Dubas wasn’t going to be retained in Toronto.
Could it be that Dubas is going to repay the debt of showing loyalty by bringing Spezza aboard in Pittsburgh? Considering there was talk that Spezza was being eyed by the Maple Leafs as a potential GM candidate, and with news that Dubas is going to hire an interim GM until July — when it’s rumored that Spezza’s non-compete ends — stranger things have happened.
For now, according to Dubas, he will handle the GM duties on an interim basis for the time being and will begin to look at candidates later in the summer.
In fact, with Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh now has the Pres. Of Hockey Operations, many will wonder if he tries to raid the Maple Leafs of some of the people he put in key positions. Among them, Eric Tulksy and Brandon Pridham were men Dubas heavily leaned upon. Of course, Brad Treliving talked about having great pieces Dubas left behind, so it sounds like the Maple Leafs won’t be letting anyone else go without a fight.
When Dubas was asked about his plans for hiring a GM in Pittsburgh, he responded, “My intention is I will handle that on an interim basis through July and then will go through candidates and make the decision that is best for the hockey department.”
Justin Bourne tweeted that he assumes Spezza will be one of the Penguins’ next organizational announcements and NHL insider Elliotte Friedman responded, “There may be some contractual issues here, but the thing about PIT is it’s possible to use Fenway to get around that. We will see.” He added, while on the Jeff Marek show Thursday that he thinks Jason Spezza is joining the organization in some capacity, just not sure if it’s with the Penguins or Fenway Sports Group. Once he does, will hev eventually become the GM of the team? That remains to be seen.
Again, holding off on a decision might have something to do with working out all of the kinks and cutting through the red tape that is required to make such a move.
Perhaps this is just as simple as Fenway Sports hiring Spezza and giving him a job technically outside the Penguins’ organization to ensure he isn’t poached by another team. If Spezza is not brought in as GM, few should be surprised if Spezza still ends up having some sort of role with the team. He and Dubas worked very closely with each other. There’s no reason to think that won’t continue.
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