The Penguins gave three members of their front office promotions this week.
Ron Hextall announced on Tuesday that Chris Pryor has been promoted from director of player personnel to assistant general manager, Andy Saucier has been promoted from video coach to hockey operations analyst/pro personnel, and Erik Heasley has been named the general manager of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, adding to his role as manager of hockey operations.
"Chris, Andy and Erik all have been key members of our hockey operations department, and collectively bring a wealth of various experiences and expertise," Hextall said of the moves. "All three individuals are very deserving of their new roles and responsibilities as we continue to build out our hockey operations department."
Pryor's promotion to assistant general manager fills the vacancy that was left when previous assistant general manager Patrik Allvin left to become general manager of the Canucks in January. Pryor, 61, joined the Penguins organization in February 2021 after 25 years of previous roles in management and scouting, including positions with the Islanders, Flyers and Predators. Pryor was the assistant general manager in Philadelphia under Hextall from 2016-18.
Saucier's position of hockey operations analyst/pro personnel is a newly-created role. He'll work as a conduit between the Penguins' analytics department and coaching staff, be involved with personnel decisions, and help with professional scouting. This will be the 35-year-old Saucier's 11th season in Pittsburgh, having spent the last 10 as the video coach. Part of Saucier's role as video coach involved looking for potential coach's challenges to overturn goals. The Penguins went 7-for-7 on coach's challenges in the regular season and 1-for-1 in the playoffs.
Heasley, 36, has worked in different roles within the Penguins' organization for the past 14 years. He was the assistant general manager of Wilkes-Barre (and at times interim general manager) for the past three seasons. He's been the Penguins' manager of hockey operations for the last 12 years, a role that involves scouting college and other amateur prospects, working with player development, and other Wilkes-Barre-related duties.
