It may be unprecedented that a new general manager would state at his introductory press conference that he’s only going to be in the job for “two or three years.” But Jim Rutherford never lacked the courage to tell it like it is.
Yes, he’s a different cat, the new general manager of the Pittsburgh Penguins. He’s part Brian Burke and part Glen Sather in his prime. A horse trader who could land Jordan Staal one day, then inexplicably give Tomas Kaberle an inflated, three-year, $12.75-million deal the next. But when he realized his mistake, he slyly dealt Kaberle to Montreal, and the Canadiens had to swallow the compliance buyout.
Today, the 65-year-old former NHL goalie (1970-83) is the head of the National Hockey League’s great unfilled promise: Sidney Crosby’s Pittsburgh Penguins — The Team That Didn’t Win Enough.
“This is a job most GMs would love to have,” said Rutherford, a quote that may seem obvious. It’s a job, however, that doesn’t suit many candidates.
They hired strong personnel men in Vancouver and Calgary — Jim Benning and Brad Treliving, respectively — because those two clubs are a long way from challenging for a Stanley Cup. They are all about drafting and developing. They’re tomorrow towns, Calgary more so than Vancouver, while Pittsburgh is living in the right now.
The Penguins are a couple of savvy trades away from finding the chemistry to take a pretty darned good team and make it great again. So they fired head coach Dan Bylsma, who had won more games than any other NHL coach since he took the job back in 2009, and brought in a new GM who more closely resembles the man he replaced (Ray Shero) than any of these young Tim Murray types who are being hired to manage teams like the Buffalo Sabres.
“Our supporting cast has to be improved,” Rutherford said at one point Friday, but it won’t be on July 1. “Free agency this year for the Penguins may not be quite so exciting… because we’re up against the cap.”
So, do the math. They’re going to have to do much of their improving by trade, and that’s where Rutherford comes in.
Rutherford made an associate general manager out of Jason Botterill, Shero’s former assistant GM who had been up for the head job. And he’s taking management trainees Bill Guerin and Tom Fitzgerald under his wing as well, giving them both the title of assistant GM. That group will take care of the farm system and the scouting department in Pittsburgh.
Rutherford will play closer, focusing on the one thing these Crosby-era Penguins don’t have: a second Stanley Cup.
“What ownership wants here is a complete change in direction,” Rutherford said. “One in the general manager, another with the coach.”
Ownership worked off a list of 30 names, talked to 22 of them, then brought nine to Pittsburgh for interviews. Four became finalists, but none could boast a resume better than the old goalie’s.
With that, Rutherford fired Bylsma as one of his first acts on the job. Cue Vancouver, where the Canucks would be foolish not to interview an experienced coach like Bylsma for the open post behind their bench in Vancouver. (Florida, too, is reportedly interested in Bylsma.)
While so many of today’s GMs are scared to dive into the deep end, Rutherford can make a blockbuster trade in an afternoon, the way he did when he acquired Jordan Staal in Carolina for a package including Brandon Sutter, then signed Staal to a long-term deal in the blink of an eye.
He’ll have more money to work with in Pittsburgh than he did in Carolina.
“Clearly the business model is different. You’ve been around long enough. You can figure out what I’m saying,” Rutherford said when asked.
So, we’ve reached the bone of contention on this hire: Carolina missed the playoffs in nine of the past 12 seasons, but went to two finals in that time, winning one. Pittsburgh has made the playoffs for eight straight years but is watching the primes of Crosby and Evgeni Malkin slip away without a Cup appearance since back-to-back trips in 2008 and ’09.
Rutherford didn’t win a lot on a budget team in Raleigh, but two Stanley Cup appearances in 12 years is every bit as good as Pittsburgh has done. With a budget, and a major upgrade in talent, can he push the right buttons in Pittsburgh to put a team that had dynasty written all over it back in 2009 back to the top again?
“Jim’s got a lot of experience,” Guerin said. “He’ll know what to do.”