Kyle Dubas adds Doug Wilson to Pittsburgh Penguins’s staff as advisor

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While doubts remain if the Pittsburgh Penguins have enough horses to get back in the playoffs, Kyle Dubas has added another thoroughbred to his front office.

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Doug Wilson, a member of the Hockey Hall of Fame, joined the Pens on Wednesday as senior advisor.

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His duties, according to a release, will include “counsel, opinions and expertise on all matters including personnel decisions … he will join the team at home and on the road at various points during the season and off-season, and will provide guidance and mentorship to all levels of hockey operations.”

“Doug brings over 40 years of NHL experience to our program,” club president of hockey operations Dubas said. “Over 16 years from his Hall of Fame playing career and 25 seasons building consistent, contending teams as leader of the San Jose Sharks hockey operations department.”

Dubas retains the title of general manager for now, assisted by Jason Spezza, who came over with him from the Toronto Maple Leafs after Dubas was fired in the spring.

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GABBY GETS BACK

Bruce Boudreau finally has a job close to his Toronto roots.

But it’s not his self-stated dream appointment coaching the Maple Leafs or as their assistant, for which he interviewed a couple of years ago.

The 68-year-old has been named senior advisor of the OHL Niagara IceDogs, where his son Ben is a first-year associate coach.

The elder Boudreau, who was let go by the Vancouver Canucks in January, his fourth NHL team, is tied for 20th in wins among all NHL coaches with 617. He won the Jack Adams Trophy with the Washington Capitals in 2007-08.

“I’m very proud, happy and excited to help the IceDogs in any way I can,” Boudreau said in a release. “The Niagara area will always have a special place in my heart (he played two years for the Leafs farm team in St. Catharines). I look forward to one day celebrating a Memorial Cup with Niagara.”

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Boudreau was a Memorial Cup junior star on the hometown Toronto Marlboroughs in the mid-1970s before getting several minor league call-ups with the Leafs. He has also worked in the media and was part of the making of the cult hockey movie Slap Shot in 1977.

HAT TRICK FOR T.O.’S PWHL TEAM

A day after the Ottawa team in the new Professional Women’s Hockey League made news signing three free agents with Canadian national team experience, including Brianne Jenner, Toronto revealed a trio of significant additions on Wednesday.

Forward Sarah Nurse, with her own long list of accomplishments on the world stage, joined Blayre Turnbull and Renata Fast on three-year deals with the start-up in the six-team league with franchises in Canada and the United States.

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The trio helped Canada to the gold medal in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, with Hamilton-born Nurse netting two Olympic records for most points (18) and most assists (13) in a single women’s tournament.

Salaries weren’t disclosed, but the PWHL scale reportedly is between $35,000 to $80,000. None of the six cities, which include Montreal, New York, Boston and Minneapolis-St. Paul, have christened their teams yet. When the UFA signing period ends, a draft to fill out all rosters will take place with the schedule to begin in January.

NOAH’S ARC TO LEAFS

After a career spent in the West, Noah Gregor hopes for a new start in the NHL with the Leafs.

The six-foot centre becomes the first player that new Toronto general manager Brad Treliving has added on a Professional Tryout contract for training camp, which starts in two weeks.

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Gregor has spent the past two seasons with San Jose after parts of three years split between the Sharks and their Barracudas AHL farm team. The 25-year-old has 51 points in 178 NHL games.

As a junior with the Moose Jaw Warriors, the Beaumont, Alta., native posted good numbers and was a fourth-round pick of the Sharks in 2016. He ended last season with a hat trick in a game against Arizona, giving him a career high 10 goals on the year.

Among the others battling for a bottom-six forward position with the Leafs this month is another ex-Shark/Barracuda, Dylan Gambrell, who has a one-year deal.

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MARCHAND ‘C’ WORTHY?

The Boston Bruins are without a captain following Patrice Bergeron’s retirement and the role could be taken by a one-time loose cannon turned NHL star.

Brad Marchand was asked about the possibility at the club’s ‘Captain’s Practice’, a pre-camp media availability.

“It’s not something I really think about too much,” he told the Boston Herald on Tuesday. “Obviously it’s a really big honour to be in the leadership group in this organization when you look at the guys who have been there before.

“But we’ve always done it collectively as a group. Even guys guys without a letter have stepped up through the years. When you lose Bergy and (David Krejci) and that leadership, it’s got to come from the group, and not one certain guy or a couple of guys. So that’s what we’re going to rely on this year.”

lhornby@postmedia.com

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