(Recently departed general manager Ron Hextall’s draft classes of 20 are not yet truly in a position to reach the NHL.) Six years later, the Penguins are sorting through the indignity of missing the recently completed postseason thanks, in part, to a roster that received almost nothing of note from a recent draft class, or at least a draft class compiled under Rutherford’s watch that started in 2014. Patrick had steered the Penguins through a rebuilding process - some might call it tanking - in the 2000s and drafted luminaries such as Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin, Kris Letang and Marc-Andre Fleury.Īs for Shero, he oversaw a management team during the early 2010s that found complementary pieces in the draft such as Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl, Olli Maatta and a would-be franchise goaltender in Matt Murray.Īnd in 2017, other players drafted during the Shero regime, such as Jake Guentzel, Scott Wilson and Josh Archibald, aided the Penguins in repeating as champions.

During the celebration of his team’s Stanley Cup title on the ice of SAP Center in San Jose, Calif., on June 12, 2016, then-Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford made a point to give credit to two people.Ĭraig Patrick and Ray Shero, his immediate predecessors.Įach had some role in constructing the roster that led to the franchise’s fourth championship.

Instal Pirates of Everseas