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Penguins hire Hextall as GM, Burke named president of hockey ops

Dave Sandford / National Hockey League / Getty

The Pittsburgh Penguins hired Ron Hextall as the team's general manager and also named Brian Burke the team's president of hockey operations, the club announced Tuesday.

Hextall was among a number of candidates vying for the position and was reportedly deemed a front-runner for the role on Tuesday morning.

An NHL veteran of 13 seasons as a goaltender, Hextall has been in various management roles over the past 20 years. He was general manager of the Philadelphia Flyers from 2014-18 and has been an advisor to the Los Angeles Kings' hockey operations department since September 2019.

Burke's name wasn't involved throughout the searching process, but he has vast experience as an NHL executive. He's had stints as general manager with the Anaheim Ducks, Toronto Maple Leafs, and Hartford Whalers/Vancouver Canucks, and was most recently president of hockey operations with the Calgary Flames from 2013-18.

After spending the last couple of years as an analyst with Sportsnet, Burke believed the opportunity to join a franchise like the Penguins was too good to pass up.

"To me, Pittsburgh is a take-your-breath-away destination for any GM or president of hockey ops," Burke said. "I'm so excited for the opportunity. The Penguins are a storied franchise with outstanding ownership in Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle, and Pittsburgh is just a great hockey city. Ron Hextall and I are very fortunate. We can't wait to get started."

While serving as Maple Leafs GM in 2012, Burke took aim at those crediting the Penguins for building a perennially competitive team with high draft picks.

"What's the Pittsburgh model? They got a lottery. They won a goddamn lottery and they got the best player in the game (Sidney Crosby)," Burke said at the time. "Is that available to me? Should we do that? Should we ask the league to have a lottery this year, and maybe we pick first? Pittsburgh model, my ass."

On Tuesday, Burke again harkened back to the 2005 draft, in which his Ducks chose Bobby Ryan with the second overall pick right after the Penguins took Crosby.

Patrik Allvin, who became interim general manager after Jim Rutherford resigned last month, will resume his role as assistant general manager. In their new roles, Hextall will oversee the Penguins' day-to-day hockey operations, reporting to Burke as his primary advisor. Burke will report to Morehouse.

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