Report: Tulsky and MacKinnon removed from consideration as Penguins cut list of GM candidates

According to Pierre LeBrun on TSN Tuesday night, the Penguins are whittling down their list of candidates for jobs. Among those who interviewed a second time but are now out of the running are reportedly Dan MacKinnon and fan-favorite Eric Tulsky.

LeBrun said that Peter Chiarelli and Marc Bergevin were both told last week they were out of the running for a job with the Penguins. Recently, candidates who advanced further including “rising star” Tulsky and Devils assistant GM MacKinnon have heard in the last 24 hours that they are also no long under consideration. LeBrun questioned just what role that former Toronto general manager Kyle Dubas might play in the recent cut downs, the Pens have asked and been given permission to talk to Dubas via multiple sources.

Tampa AGM and director of hockey operations Mathieu Darche and Seattle AGM Jason Botterill were mentioned by LeBrun as potential candidates still in the mix for getting hired with the Pens at this point. Going unmentioned was John Chayka, whose participation has ranged from spotty updates at times.

It has been long reported that a timetable to close up the process to identify a candidate, extend and offer and hopefully wrap up a deal was sought by the Pens by the end of the month — and more specifically during this week. However, the late-breaking news about Dubas’s surprise availability from late last week has caused the process to turn slightly.

Final decisions need to be made, but based off these recent cuts the Pens should be getting closer and closer to deciding what direction they want to go for their next leadership group.