After yet another disappointingly early exit from the Stanley Cup playoffs, the Pittsburgh Penguins are making a change. A couple of changes, actually.
The Penguins will announce Friday the firings of head coach Dan Bylsma and general manager Ray Shero, according to TSN’s Bob McKenzie and CBC’s Elliotte Friedman.
The team has called a news conference for 11:55 a.m. Friday.
McKenzie reported that Penguins assistant GM Jason Botterill is expected to take over Shero’s job on an interim basis and that Shero immediately will become the front-runner for the Washington Capitals’ GM vacancy.
Bylsma, who also coached Team USA at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, has led Pittsburgh to the playoffs in each of his five-plus seasons at the helm, including winning the Stanley Cup as a rookie head coach in 2008-09. His team has advanced past the Eastern Conference semifinals only once since winning that Cup, though — they were swept by the Boston Bruins in the East finals in 2013 — despite surpassing the 100-point plateau in each of Bylsma’s four full seasons (and earning the top seed in the lockout-shortened 2012-13 campaign).
The Penguins defeated the Columbus Blue Jackets in the first round of this postseason before blowing a 3-1 series lead to fall to the New York Rangers in seven games.
UPDATE (12:01 p.m.):Â The Penguins announced in their Friday news conference that Shero was relieved of his duties. They also announced Bylsma would remain the team’s head coach for the time being and that his fate would be in the hands of Shero’s successor.
