The Pittsburgh Penguins hired Wes Clark, the former Director of Scouting of the Toronto Maple Leafs.
The Pittsburgh Penguins announced on Tuesday that they had hired Wes Clark, the former Director of Scouting for the Toronto Maple Leafs, as Vice President of Player Personnel.
General Manager Kyle Dubas will reteam with Clark, a former co-worker who will now serve the Penguins' amateur, professional, college, and European free-agent scouting departments.
Clark and Dubas's connection goes deeper than their work with the Maple Leafs. From 2011 to 2014, the pair worked together with the Soo Greyhounds in the Ontario Hockey League.
Dubas was the team's General Manager, and Clark served as Director of Hockey Operations and then Director of Player Development.
When Dubas joined the Maple Leafs in 2014, he recruited Clark as an amateur scout and team consultant.
Under then-President Lou Lamoriello, Clark was relieved of his duties and spent two seasons as a scout with the Florida Panthers from 2016 to 2018.
The Maple Leafs promoted Dubas to General Manager in 2018, and that's when Clark rejoined the organization as Assistant Director of Player Personnel, eventually becoming the Director of Player Personnel and Director of Amateur Scouting.
On Tuesday, the pair reunite for the third time in their professional careers.
At first glance, many social media posts show that the Penguins fan base is quite divided on the hire since the reconnection of a Maple Leafs executive in Pittsburgh is questionable.
Toronto may have a competitive team but hasn't won a championship in almost 60 years, a culture no one wants to build in Pittsburgh.