Heinbuck hired as Penguins’ director of scouting
PITTSBURGH (AP) – Jay Heinbuck, formerly the head amateur scout for the New York Islanders, has been hired as the Pittsburgh Penguins’ director of amateur scouting. Heinbuck replaces Greg Malone, a former Penguins player who recently took a job with the Phoenix Coyotes.
Before working for the Islanders, Heinbuck was an assistant coach and recruiter at St. Lawrence University.
General manager Ray Shero has overhauled the Penguins’ staff since being hired in May to replace Craig Patrick. Patrick, a Hall of Fame executive, had been the Penguins’ general manager since 1989.
The Penguins also hired Patrik Allvin as chief European scout, Dan MacKinnon and Bill O’Flaherty as pro scouts, and Jim Madigan as an amateur scout.
Allvin previously scouted for the Montreal Canadiens, while MacKinnon was a scouting coordinator with Nashville, where Shero was an assistant general manager. O’Flaherty had been the Los Angeles Kings’ director of player personnel since 1997.
Other off-ice changes include the hiring of Chris Stewart, a former assistant trainer with the Carolina Hurricanes, as trainer and Dana Heinze as equipment manager. Mark Mortland, the Penguins’ trainer for 11 years, becomes the team’s physical therapist.
Five Penguins employees were let go last month, including former coach Rick Kehoe, who had been working as a pro scout, and longtime equipment manager Steve Latin. Kehoe first joined the Penguins as a player in 1974 and was an assistant coach before taking over as coach in 2001.
Kehoe had a 55-81-14-10 record before being replaced in 2003.