Penguins Add Heavyweight to Front Office, Name Doug Wilson as Sr. Advisor

The Pittsburgh Penguins added a heavy weight to their front office staff Wednesday. President of hockey operations/GM Kyle Dubas hired long-time San Jose Sharks GM Doug Wilson as the senior advisor of hockey operations.

According to the Penguins press release, Wilson will provide counsel, opinions, and expertise to hockey operations leadership on all matters, including personnel decisions. He will join the team at home and on the road at various points during the season and offseason and will provide guidance and mentorship to all levels of hockey operations.

Wilson, 66, will help to lead the young Penguins’ front office staff, which acquired most of its knowledge on the ice.

Former NHL players Jason Spezza and Trevor Daley and Team USA Women’s hockey star Amanda Kessel are core members of the new front office under Dubas. Spezza, the team’s assistant GM, is beginning his second year in a front-office capacity. Daley joined the Penguins’ front office in 2020 in a learning capacity under former GM Jim Rutherford as a hockey operations advisor. This summer, Dubas elevated Daley and Kessel to special assistant to the president of hockey operations and GM.

Kessel, 32, completed a management internship with the organization last year. Spezza is 40, and Daley is 39, while Dubas is 37.

Director of hockey operations and legal affairs, Vukie Mpofu, is only 27.

“Doug brings over 40 years of NHL experience to our program. Over 16 years from his Hall-of-Fame playing career and over 25 seasons building consistent contending teams as the leader of the San Jose Sharks hockey operations department,” said Dubas. “Doug will serve as a source of both experience and wisdom to our entire hockey operations department. His ability to maintain high standards of performance and professionalism over two decades with Sharks is the type of consistency we all aspire to these positions. Doug will provide me and our entire program with a great resource and tremendous benefit as we get rolling. I am excited to add Doug to our management team today.”

Wilson most recently served as the San Jose Sharks General Manager from 2003-22. The Sharks won the Presidents’ Trophy in 2009 and appeared in the 2016 Stanley Cup Final. Wilson’s Sharks won five Pacific Division titles (2004, 2008-11), appeared in five Western Conference Finals (2004, ’10, ’11, ’16, ’19) and made 14 Stanley Cup Playoff appearances.

Wilson played in the NHL for 16 years, from 1977-93 with the Chicago Blackhawks and Sharks. He was named to the Hockey Hall of Fame in 2020.