Penguins sign GM Jim Rutherford to 3-year contract extension

PITTSBURGH — The Pittsburgh Penguins announced Wednesday that general manager Jim Rutherford has been signed to a three-year contract extension.

Rutherford’s existing contract was scheduled to run through the current season. The extension keeps him with the team through the 2021-22 season.

Just announced by the #Penguins —
GM Jim Rutherford has signed a 3-year contract extension (through the 2021/2022 season) #WPXI
— Alby Oxenreiter (@albyox) November 14, 2018

In his 25th year as an NHL general manager, 69-year-old Rutherford has been with the Penguins for five seasons.

Rutherford ranks eighth in NHL history among general managers in both career wins (850) and games managed (1,834), according to the NHL Stats team.

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Rutherford managed the Penguins to back-to-back Stanley Cup championships, adding to one he earned in 2006 with the Carolina Hurricanes.

“We think Jim Rutherford is one of the best general managers in all of sports and, during his tenure in Pittsburgh, arguably the best GM in the NHL,” Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said in a joint statement.

Included in Rutherford’s 13-year NHL playing career was a three-year stint with the Penguins. He was a 1969 first-round (10th overall) draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings.