Marc Bergevin, Peter Chiarelli, Jason Karmanos, and Eric Tulsky are among the first wave of 10-12 candidates to interview for the Pittsburgh Penguins' general manager vacancy, reports TSN's Pierre LeBrun.
Bergevin spent parts of three seasons with the Penguins to close out his 20-year playing career. He served as GM and executive vice president of hockey operations for the Montreal Canadiens from 2012-21, leading the team to a Stanley Cup Final berth in 2021. He's been working as a senior advisor with the Los Angeles Kings over the last couple of seasons.
Chiarelli boasts 13 years of experience as an NHL GM - nine with the Boston Bruins from 2006-15 and four with the Edmonton Oilers from 2015-19. He was maligned for trades during both tenures, most notably dealing away Tyler Seguin with Boston and Taylor Hall with Edmonton. However, Chiarelli led the Bruins to a Stanley Cup title in 2011 and another Cup Final appearance two years later. He's worked in the St. Louis Blues front office for the past four seasons.
Karmanos is most familiar with the Penguins organization among the reported candidates. He spent six-plus years as the team's assistant GM under Jim Rutherford from 2014-20, helping the Pens win back-to-back Cups in 2016 and 2017. Karmanos was also Rutherford's right-hand man with the Carolina Hurricanes for 14 seasons from 1998-13. The 48-year-old spent the last three campaigns as the Buffalo Sabres' assistant GM.
Tulsky owns the least NHL front-office experience among the reported candidates but is considered one of the brightest minds in the game. He's spent nine seasons in the Hurricanes' front office, working his way up from analyst to director of analytics to assistant GM over the last three campaigns.
The Penguins fired GM Ron Hextall and president of hockey operations Brian Burke in April after missing the playoffs for the first time since 2006. Members of Pittsburgh's AHL affiliate and Pens head coach Mike Sullivan have been making hockey operations decisions in the interim.
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