New Penguins GM will have full autonomy

The Pittsburgh Tribune-Review has an excellent, wide-ranging Q&A with Penguins majority co-owners Ron Burkle and Mario Lemieux. It's definitely worth your time.

Lemieux was asked who will decide the fate of Kris Letang before his no-trade clause kicks in.

"That's on the GM," Lemieux indicated. "We signed Kris to keep him. But when the GM comes in, he's going to evaluate the team. If he sees fit to trade any of these players, he'll certainly talk to us about it. But it's his call."

CEO David Morehouse was also in the room and he, Lemieux and Burkle each separately indicated that the new general manager of the Penguins will have the ability to shape the roster as he sees fit.

Lemieux also passed along what he'd like to see the Penguins look like moving forward, which was a theme repeated throughout the interview.

"You need speed," he said. "Look at Montreal, the way they're built. They have some smaller forwards, but they're all speedy and they've got grit, and they've got character. That's probably what we'd like to have."

Source: Dejan Kovacevic, PIttsburgh Tribune-Review

Tribune-Review reporter Rob Rossi has a look at the power structure within the Penguins organization and where the GM fits in.