The Pittsburgh Penguins started their 56-game season with a record of 5-5-1 which for Penguins fans is not good. Former Penguins General Manager and President of Hockey Operations, Jim Rutherford resigned and Patrik Allvin took over for the time being. The Penguins kept searching and found their new GM in Rox Hextall. Penguins fans remember him for being a Philadelphia Flyers goalie who was fierce in net and chased down Robbie Brown after he scored. What many Penguins fans did not know is that his dad, Bryan, played for the Penguins in the 1970s and Hextall was a Penguins fan. In my opinion, this is a good move going forward for the Penguins because Hextall is known to draft and develop players efficiently. In Philadelphia, he drafted Carter Hart, Travis Konecny, Ivan Provorov and Travis Sanheim who have proven to be talented for the Flyers.
The Penguins were not done searching just yet, as they hired Brian Burke as the new Presdient of Hockey Operations. Burke has had a long history in the NHL. From being controversial in Toronto to developing well in Calgary. In Toronto, he is widely-known for the 2009 Phil Kessel trade to Toronto from Boston. The trade included a 2010 1st round pick which ended up being Tyler Seguin, a 2010 2nd round pick, and a 2011 1st round pick which ended up being Dougie Hamilton. In 2011, the Boston Bruins won the Stanley Cup with big help from Seguin and in 2013 they made the Cup Finals with help from Seguin and Hamilton. In Calgary, with the help of Burke, the Flames drafted guys like Sam Bennett, Matthew Tkachuk, Rasmus Andersson and Andrew Mangiapane. They have also developed players too like Johnny Gaudreau and Sean Monahan. I think Burke being the new President of Hockey Operations for the Penguins is going to be much-needed now and in 3-5 years.
Now the question becomes, how would the Penguins do on the ice? Well, through 5 games since hiring Hextall and Burke, they have looked like a different hockey team than they were the first 11 games of the season. Since Hextall and Burke have been with the Penguins, the Penguins are 4-1 in their 5 games played and have looked efficient overall. I am still concerned about our defensive play, but hopefully they can turn it around. With the play of centers, Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin, the team has taken off once again. They have been getting contributions all around from defenseman, Kris Letang, forward, Bryan Rust and goalie, Tristan Jarry. With the acquisitions of forward, Kasperi Kapanen and defenseman, Mike Matheson, so far I like the way they can move the puck with their speed to create offensive chances for the Penguins. Do I think the Penguins can keep their pace up against teams like Boston, Philly and Washington? I think so. Sometimes a team needs new leadership and new voices to get better and the last time they did that, the Pens won 2 Cups.
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