CEO in Pittsburgh: Elliotte Friedman not ruling out the idea

In recent weeks, Pittsburgh has been in a state of flux. After seeing the team miss the playoffs, the organization wiped the slate clean in terms of its field hockey organization chart, and yesterday announced that Kyle Dubas (freshly dismissed from his position in Toronto) was the team’s new President of Hockey Operations.

Clearly, missing the playoffs is not a satisfactory outcome for the Penguins, and they seem intent on taking steps to ensure it doesn’t happen again next year.

That said, even if Dubas was a big first step, the work is far from over. The Penguins are still looking for a general manager, and the process will have to get underway quickly.

But the general manager may well end up being a general manager after all. At least, Elliotte Friedman seems to be opening the door to this possibility in his text of the day.

According to Friedman, hearing Dubas talk about his desire to make a “progressive” hire yesterday makes the question arise. Perhaps he was referring to the fact that the GM position will have to be a promotion if you’re going to draw from within an organization, but then again, we know that many women have an assistant GM role in the NHL.

If the club wants to consider women for the position, it will have several quality candidates to choose from. We can expect Cammi Granato (Canucks), Kate Madigan (Devils), Émilie Castonguay (Canucks), Meghan Hunter (Blackhawks) and Meghan Duggan (Devils) to be considered, among others.

And we agree that this would be different from the circle of experienced executives who continue to hold positions despite numerous dismissals.

Friedman also wonders if Dubas could go after his former colleagues in Toronto, be it Brandon Pridham or Wes Clark. And if we continue to look at Toronto, Hayley Wickenheiser is also a worthy candidate.

Clearly, then, this will be something to keep an eye on over the next few weeks, but don’t be surprised to see women being considered for the GM position in Pittsburgh. We know Dubas is a forward-thinking guy (not least because of the advanced stats) and he could prove it again if he feels a woman is the most qualified person to lead the Penguins on a day-to-day basis.

In gusts

– Speaking of Dubas.

Sid Seixeiro: I’ve lost a lot of respect for Kyle Dubas@Sid_Seixeiro joins @TonyMarinaro to discuss why he thinks Kyle Dubas is no longer in Toronto.

Full pod👇🏻
Watch: https://t.co/eek3kPgTbS
Listen: https://t.co/qIFv11vtxj#Leafs #LeafsForever #thesickpodcast pic.twitter.com/ZHQ3tWWQH

– The Sick Podcast with Tony Marinaro (@thesickpodcasts) June 2, 2023

– The Remparts return to training.

– Impressive.

– I love it.

– The end for Denis Shapovalov at Roland-Garros.