Changes Coming to the Pittsburgh Penguins

The new era has begun in Pittsburgh as the Penguins named Kyle Dubas the new president of hockey operations. Change was needed for the hockey club after Ron Hextall did his best to ruin to franchise last season. Now Dubas is in charge and will have full control over team operations this summer until a general manager is hired. Look for the Pens to be busy.

Dubas confirmed during his press conference the team will be active this summer. They will evaluate some of their internal talent which is headed for free agency with the likes of Tristan Jarry and Jason Zucker and then they will decide if they want to retain both players. Once this decision has been made, all the attention turns to free agency, where the Penguins currently have $20 million in cap space.

Here's some of the notes that stood out from the Penguins new president on Thursday as it's very entertaining times surrounding the hockey team in Pittsburgh:

Kyle Dubas: “Penguins do have a really good opportunity with salary cap this summer — about $20M in spade.” @TheAthleticNHL
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) June 1, 2023

Kyle Dubas: “Short run — make decisions to keep team competitive. … at same time, delivering a long term hockey organization that will be class of NHL.” @TheAthleticNHL
— Rob Rossi (@Real_RobRossi) June 1, 2023

There it is … pic.twitter.com/b0XfrMMqsf
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) June 1, 2023

Dubas now has the kind of power that he never had in Toronto. I'm presuming he will hire a GM to work under him, someone who likely shares his vision. The Penguins need serious change. This is a very big step and a good day for the organization.
— Josh Yohe (@JoshYohe_PGH) June 1, 2023

Dubas on Jarry: “I’ll probably take the chance to meet him myself and get know him… and then it’s going to be doing a very thorough evaluation of Tristan, where he stands in the marketplace, get a real scope of who’s going to be available, whether that’s in free agency or trade
— NHL Watcher (@NHL_Watcher) June 1, 2023

Photo credit: Russell LaBounty-USA TODAY Sports