Last summer, the Pittsburgh Penguins fired coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Ray Shero. And while it’s not unusual for GMs and coaches to be let go during the off-season, many thought the team could have handled these two with greater respect.
On Saturday, former Penguins defenseman Matt Niskanen – who signed with Washington as a free agent – sounded off on how the team dealt with his former bosses.
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“The organization can say whatever it wants, that it wasn’t sure what it wanted to do, all that stuff,” Niskanen said to the Pittsburgh Tribune’s Josh Yohe. “But it was (bull).
“It’s not like Dan (Bylsma) was a chump or something, but that’s how he was treated. He won you guys a Cup, you know?”
Shero was let go on May 16, but Bylsma and his assistants remained in their positions for another three weeks before being dismissed by Shero’s replacement, Jim Rutherford.
The Penguins said they hadn’t made up their mind about Bylsma’s future at the time of Shero’s firing, but some outsiders believe it was a conscious decision to delay Bylsma’s dismissal.
At the time, the rival Washington Capitals were also going through a change in the front office and behind the bench and some thought the Penguins wanted to avoid a situation where both Bylsma and Shero joined the Capitals. There were also other NHL teams exploring coaching options at the time and Bylsma would have been a popular target for each one.
“I was always treated really well when I was there,” Niskanen told Yohe. “But, you know, I have a real problem with how those guys were treated. A lot of guys on the team were very upset by how everything happened.”
Niskanen’s Capitals teammate and another former Penguin, Brooks Orpik, was also asked about how Bylsma was handled, but he was sure to watch his words.
“I definitely have an opinion on it,” Orpik said. “But I don’t think it does any good to share that right now. At the end of the day, it’s people running a business. That’s what you always hear. It’s a cut-throat business. I don’t think anything surprises me anymore.”
Both Bylsma and Shero remain out of work, though Bylsma’s name is always one of the first to come up when coaching replacements are being discussed.
