PITTSBURGH — Frustrated fans who chanted "Fire Hextall!" at PPG Paints Arena during Tuesday's devastating loss to the lowly Chicago Blackhawks got their wish Friday.
The Penguins have parted ways with embattled general manager Ron Hextall. President of hockey operations Brian Burke and assistant general manager Chris Pryor are out, as well.
Fenway Sports Group, which purchased the team in November 2021, will now conduct a thorough search for the next Penguins GM.
"We are grateful to Brian, Ron, and Chris for their contributions to the organization over the past two seasons, but we feel that the team will benefit from new hockey operations leadership," John Henry and Tom Werner said in a statement. "While this season has been disappointing, we believe in our core group of players and the goal of contending for the Stanley Cup has not changed."
In the Penguins' statement, it also said two-time Cup-winning coach Mike Sullivan, who is expected to return next season, will help with the transition, though it is unclear what those duties will entail.
The expected firing of Hextall and Burke ended a disappointing tenure in which the Penguins failed to win a postseason series and this week saw their remarkable run of consecutive playoff appearances end after 16 years. The last time the team failed to get in was Sidney Crosby's rookie year, way back in 2006.
The Penguins, then still under the principal ownership of Mario Lemieux and Ron Burke, hired Hextall and Burke in tandem in February 2021, after Hall of Fame general manager Jim Rutherford abruptly resigned from his post.
Hextall, a former Philadelphia Flyers goalie and executive, vowed to keep the team in Stanley Cup contention while simultaneously restocking the farm system. Burke talked a big game about making the Penguins bigger and tougher, which ultimately never happened. The roster somehow got even older, though.
Hextall, the chief decision maker on personnel and staff decisions, bolstered their Cup hopes that first year by adding Jeff Carter at the trade deadline. The Penguins were done in that spring by an abysmal performance by Tristan Jarry.
The ensuing offseason is when Hextall's string of crippling mistakes started.
He traded Jared McCann, who this season scored 40 goals for Seattle, because he did not plan to protect him in the expansion draft. They also lost Brandon Tanev to the Kraken. Hextall tried to replace Tanev's tenacity with Brock McGinn, whom the Penguins shed in a salary dump less than two years later.
That was maybe the most glaring example of Hextall and his professional scouting staff misevaluating NHL players, both on other teams and his own roster.
Rickard Rakell proved to be a savvy pickup. But Hextall handed out bad contracts to Carter and Kasperi Kapanen and last month made a much-criticized deadline deal for Mikael Granlund, a player whom Pryor pushed Hextall to acquire.
Moves made last summer to upgrade the blue line actually made that unit worse. Trading John Marino to New Jersey for Ty Smith was a move that has favored the Devils so far. Jeff Petry, acquired from Montreal in exchange for Mike Matheson, played OK this season but fell short of internal expectations.
It has not been all bad for the front office duo of Hextall and Burke. Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang, Rakell and Bryan Rust all signed team-friendly contracts. Jarry had a bounce-back, All-Star season in 2021-22 after Hextall stood by him. Their prospect pool is a bit better, even if it remains one of the NHL's worst.
Fenway Sports Group was in evaluation mode this season, their first full campaign running the team. They grew wearier of Hextall and Burke as this season went on. FSG saw that Hextall failed to upgrade the goaltending situation and supporting cast, two of the most glaring concerns entering last offseason.
And the ownership group heard the "Fire Hextall!" chants at several recent home games, the first instance coming during a Feb. 23 loss to Edmonton.
However, FSG gave Hextall the latitude at this trade deadline to make a flurry of moves. They did not change the team's trajectory. Giving up a second-round pick to take on Granlund and his sizable contract did Nashville a favor.
Whoever tabbed to replace Hextall and Burke has a tall task ahead of them.
Crosby and Malkin this season were brilliant in their mid-30s. And Letang had his moments, too, in what was a challenging season for him personally.
But providing them with the Cup-caliber supporting cast that Hextall could not will be incredibly challenging given the Granlund and Carter contracts, a lack of salary cap space in 2022-23 and a diminished cupboard of future assets.
While the organization looks for new leadership to replace Hextall, Burke and Pryor, their duties will be filled in the interim by current director of hockey operations Alec Schall, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton general manager/manager of hockey operations Erik Heasley and hockey operations analyst Andy Saucier.
