Jim Rutherford gets three-year extension from Penguins
Jim Rutherford has had a pretty good couple of weeks.
He won a second Stanley Cup on June 12, was named General Manager of the Year at the NHL Awards on June 24 and today signed a three-year extension with the Pittsburgh Penguins.
All of that has been deserved after the job he did in the last year remodeling the Penguins following a first-round playoff exit in 2015. He acquired Phil Kessel last July 1 and replaced head coach Mike Johnston with Mike Sullivan in December following a disastrous start to the season. A few shrewd trades and a system overhaul later, and Pittsburgh brought home its fourth Cup.
After stepping down as Carolina Hurricanes in GM in 2014, Rutherford replaced Ray Shero in Pittsburgh weeks later. “I would suspect the term for me is probably two or three years here,” he said at the time. Has that plan changed? According to the Penguins, the new deal replaces his old one and runs through the 2018-19 season. Where does this leave the likes of assistant GMs Jason Botterill and Bill Guerin, who have served as his mentees?
“You really don’t know. We’ve never held anybody back if they get an opportunity. We’ll just have to see where that goes,” Rutherford told the Pittsburgh media on Friday.
The new Las Vegas NHL team would certainly inquire about Botterill or Guerin for their open GM position, along with other teams who are looking for a replacement over the next year. Rutherford could also move upstairs in the executive office and hand the reins to either of them at some point as well.
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Sean Leahy is the associate editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at puckdaddyblog@yahoo.com or follow him on Twitter! Follow @Sean_Leahy
