The Pittsburgh Penguins have filled the role vacated by Jason Botterill when he was hired as the new General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres. Assistant GM Bill Guerin will take over as GM of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, taking the next step in his path to running an NHL team. The team has also promoted Jason Karmanos to Assistant GM, and Mark Recchi to the Director of Player Development. 
Guerin is on a similar path to the one Chris Drury is following in New York, who was also named GM of the AHL team earlier this spring. After being hired as a player development coach after retiring in 2011, Guerin was promoted to AGM three seasons ago and has from all accounts been very successful in the position. He’ll now have the task of running a team himself, a stepping stone for nearly all NHL GMs around the league. The WBS Penguins have enjoyed a lot of success under Botterill’s watch, and have won at least 40 games in 12 straight seasons. Their run of fifteen straight playoff appearances without a Calder Cup championship is something Guerin will be tasked with changing, while continuing to develop players for the Pittsburgh roster.
The 46-year old Guerin played 1,263 games in the NHL, scoring 856 points as one of his eras most consistent power forwards. He raised the Stanley Cup twice during his playing days, early with New Jersey and near the end of his career with Pittsburgh in 2009. He’s also obviously been part of the team that has now won back to back Cups, reported to have been a big part of recruiting college players into the system.
Guerin himself went through the NCAA route before it was the development path it is today, spending two years with Boston College after being drafted fifth-overall. While NCAA players pepper the Pittsburgh lineup, they’re also still coming as the team signed the highly sought-after Zach Aston-Reese as a free agent this spring, only to see him score eight points in ten games for the WBS Penguins down the stretch. College players will undoubtedly be a big part of what Guerin does with the WBS roster, though Aston-Reese may compete for an NHL job in the fall.
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