Ex-Penguins GM Jim Rutherford Refreshed and Ready to Return

After only a month away from the game ex-Pittsburgh Penguins general manager and long-time NHL executive Jim Rutherford spoke with Pierre LeBrun of The Athletic and opened up about how refreshed he was being away from the game.

While it's only been roughly a month since he abruptly resigned in Pittsburgh for personal reasons, Rutherford was very candid about everything besides the actual reason why he surprisingly left the team in January.

The Penguins had battled a ton of injuries early on this season and were hanging around the bottom of the playoff picture, but have since turned things around and currently sit one point back of 2nd place in the East division.

I still got the bug. I can tell you that I feel good, I have a lot of energy, I love the game. I’ve watched as many games as I can every night to stay in the loop. I have an emotional connection to the Penguins for obvious reasons, but I still have the bug to be with a team and try to contribute and make it better.

I’ve done this long enough, and I have a lot of friends in the game and a lot of respect for everybody, and I’m not looking to take somebody’s job. So I’m not going to be making phone calls and saying that I’m looking for a job that somebody already has.

It’s a place where most people would like to get to in their life. You can work if you want, but you don’t have to. I don’t have any more things to accomplish in the league, but I do think I have a lot to offer to a team in the right situation.

Some have wondered what exactly went on in Pittsburgh as there's been some rumblings he was trying to trade either Kris Letang, Evgeni Malkin or both and was shut down by ownership.

Here's more on the story as this Rutherford departure from Pittsburgh is turning into quite a bizarre scene: