Pierre McGuire may not be between the benches for much longer. The analyst -- usually cowered between the two benches during NHL games for the NBC Sports Network during telecasts -- confirmed that he is a candidate for the Pittsburgh Penguins general manager job and there is a possibility he'll fill the vacancy left after Ray Shero was let-go.
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"Yes, I can confirm there have been discussions with Pens management," McGuire told Toronto's TSN radio affiliate, according to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette.
If hired, it would be a reunion between McGuire and the Penguins after he served as a scout for them in 1990 and was an assistant coach under Scotty Bowman when the Pens hoisted the Stanley Cup in 1991 and 1992.
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The Penguins have had a load of talent over the last few years but have burned out with a whimper in the postseason as of late. After clinching the top spot in the Metropolitan Division this season, the team struggled in a Round 1 series against the Columbus Blue Jackets before ousting them in six games and then blew a 3-1 series lead in Round 2 and lost to the New York Rangers in a deciding Game 7 on home ice.
Following the Round 2 loss, the Penguins fired Shero and as the Rangers march on to the Stanley Cup Final against the Los Angeles Kings, the Pens have began the search for a new GM.
There were rumors following the Round 2 meltdown that Shero and head coach Dan Bylsma would be fired, but the team opted to keep Bylsma, who won the Stanley Cup with Pittsburgh in his first year behind the bench in 2009.
Since 2009, the Penguins have failed to get back to the Cup final. Pittsburgh has made the playoffs for each of the five seasons since lifting the Cup in 2009, however the closest they've come to getting back to the Stanley Cup Final was in 2013, where the Pens were swept out by the Boston Bruins in the Eastern Conference Finals.
Bylsma is 252-117-32 since taking over the Penguins late in the 2008-09 season and guiding them to the Cup.
"Management, and ownership in particular, had higher expectations over the last five years for the team that hadn't been realized," McGuire said in the radio interview. "That's when change happens, or when they decided to make the change. It's been a pretty fluid process throughout the last 10 days to two weeks."
If things go well for McGuire, he could be moving on up to the general manager position after the series between the Rangers and Kings concludes.
Game 1 of the Stanley Cup begins Wedesday night at 8:00 p.m. ET at the Staples Center in Los Angeles.
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