Penguins Nation

After weeks of speculation regarding his status with the Pittsburgh Penguins, head coach Dan Bylsma has been fired, the team announced Friday. Recently hired Penguins Executive Vice President and General Manager Jim Rutherford spoke on the move: Dan is a good man and a good coach, but I thought we needed a change in direction moving forward. I have no doubt that he will go on to be a head coach in the National Hockey League and have success. The search for our new head coach will begin immediately. Louis Jean of TVA Sports first reported the news: It initially looked like Bylsma's days in Pittsburgh ...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have reportedly reached an agreement with Jim Rutherford to make the longtime member of the Carolina Hurricanes' front office their new general manager. The team announced the move on Friday: Jim Rutherford has been named General Manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins, it was announced today by co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle. Rutherford, 65, one of the most respected executives in hockey, was general manager of the Carolina/Hartford franchise for 20 years and led the Carolina Hurricanes to the Stanley Cup in 2006. He stepped down from that position in April of this year. “Jim has proven himself to be ...

With all the commotion surrounding the Pittsburgh Penguins on and off the ice this offseason, the future of this organization is shrouded in mystery. The Pens have a lot of areas to improve in the coming months, but who will be playing along the blue line next season is the least of their worries. The team’s defense is in good condition, and while one or two moves could be made to strengthen it, I believe the front office must focus on the best possible pairings by the beginning of the preseason to set the tone for the rest of the year. The Penguins ...

The 2014 NHL Draft is an opportunity for some clubs to begin their rebuilding process and for others to stockpile ammunition for a deep postseason run. For the Pittsburgh Penguins, it’s the latter. As we have seen in past drafts, it’s hard to predict where anyone could land, especially a superstar. Thankfully for the Pens, they don’t need a superstar. That slot was filled quite a while ago. Still, the team currently holds the 22nd pick and could benefit greatly by trading up to grab an impact player in the first round. Goaltending and forward depth are two major areas of concern ...

Looking ahead to the 2014-15 NHL season, there are a variety of questions in need of urgent answering for the Pittsburgh Penguins, such as who will fill the vacant general manager position as well as what players the club will have to cut in order to satisfy the salary cap. Despite these types of concerns, the organization does have a lot of things going smoothly for them. They have top-tier talent in almost every position on the ice along with a generous amount of young prospects ready to take the Metropolitan Division by storm as soon as their coaches say the ...

With 12 players entering free agency, the Pittsburgh Penguins figured to be one of the busiest teams this offseason even before the regular season ended and the postseason began. Then came the collapse against the New York Rangers which culminated in a third Game 7 loss on home ice in five years. Then came the shocking dismissal of general manager Ray Shero, the 2013 NHL Executive of the Year. Then came the lingering questions surrounding head coach Dan Bylsma, who remains in coaching limbo. In the last three weeks, Pens fans have seen a year's worth of suspense and intrigue, and it's not even June yet. As the search for the team's next general ...

The Pittsburgh Penguins have a cloud of uncertainty trailing them into the 2014 offseason along with an array of needs that must be filled by October. While the biggest question facing the organization is who will be filling the vacant general manager position, the Pens have other areas of concern that need to be addressed—such as who stays and who goes. Whoever the next GM will be, he will have quite a project to undertake. This team can find the answers it is seeking in the upcoming draft, free agency and through trades this offseason. Here are four of the Penguin’s biggest needs ...

Just two weeks ago, the Pittsburgh Penguins returned to the Consol Energy Center just one win away from a return trip to the Eastern Conference Final. Since then, the Pens blew a 3-1 series lead for the second time in four years, fired their seemingly untouchable general manager and left head coach Dan Bylsma and the rest of his staff in coaching limbo. As shocking as the Pens' postseason collapse may have been, the front office shakeup and the expected roster changes that may take place this summer figure to be even more shocking as Mario Lemieux and the rest of the ownership team try to ...

With an element of uncertainty on both the ice and in the front office following another early postseason exit, the Pittsburgh Penguins are in dire need of accumulating new types of talent this offseason. Big name skaters like Brooks Orpik, Matt Niskanen and Jussi Jokinen are hitting the free agency market this July, and while it is important the organization takes a long, hard look at whether or not to re-sign these guys, they have other important issues to address as well. The team needs to continue to build around the core players such as Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin while trying ...

It’s the goal of the postseason, just not in the league you’re expecting. Brian Gibbons is back on the ice, dicing up opponents for the Wilkes Barre-Scranton Penguins of the AHL. The sometimes Pittsburgh Penguins center capped off what may stand to be the goal of the postseason on Wednesday night, pulling out a number of Pavel Datsyuk-like moves the Providence Bruins defense was helpless to resist.  Brian Stubits of Eye On Hockey spotted footage of the rampage, which involved Gibbons cutting through four Bruins before beating the keeper. Stubits sums the goal up quite well, in his own Joseph Conrad-ian way. “The dangles on this goal ...