Patrick WilliamsFeatures Writer for TheAHL.com
Kyle Dubas has spent much of the last 14 months reworking the look of his NHL program.
Arriving in Pittsburgh from the Toronto Maple Leafs in June 2023, the Penguins' president of hockey and general manager is tasked with trying to bring more success using the team's long-term core — and positioning the organization for the future.
A big part of that schedule involves the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins.
Dubas learned the business of professional hockey with the Toronto Marlies, building the Leafs' on- and off-ice AHL careers to a Calder Cup champion in 2018. He saw how important the American Hockey League is as a foundation for a successful NHL franchise, a philosophy he carried with him as general manager of the Maple Leafs and now to Pittsburgh.
As Dubas continues to settle in with the Penguins, many of his ways of doing business are starting to take hold in Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Assistant GM Jason Spezzawho spent the past two seasons — one in Toronto, one in Pittsburgh — studying business at Dubas, will add to the role of Wilkes-Barre's new general manager this season. Amanda Kesselprogram with the US national women's program for more than a decade, has also been promoted to Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's new assistant general manager and the organization's manager of minor league operations.
And there to help organize it all will be the new head coach of the AHL Penguins Kirk MacDonaldhired in June after two seasons with Dubuque of the United States Hockey League, capped by a trip to the league finals. Mix in organizational management and coaching changes and a pathetic job in free agency to fill out the depth chart, and this will be Wilkes-Barre/Scranton's new job in 2024-25.
Wilkes-Barre/Scranton has produced NHL coaches in the past 20 years: Michel Therrien, Todd Richards, Dan Bylsma, Todd Reirden, John Hynes again Mike Sullivan they've all passed through northeastern Pennsylvania on their way to — or back from — NHL head coaching gigs. MacDonald hopes to follow through. Getting the job involved a trip to Pittsburgh and a full-day meeting and interview with Dubas and Spezza. Both sides talked about philosophies, methods and how they view the details of the game.
Hiring an AHL head coach is a big decision for an NHL organization, and there was a lot to sift through to determine if MacDonald was the man for the job.
“It's been a complete process,” MacDonald said. “It felt like there was a good connection with how it should be played, and how we want to teach it.”
MacDonald, 40, comes from the lower ranks of the US, but has extensive pro experience. Prior to joining Dubuque, he spent eight seasons with Reading in the ECHL, serving as assistant and later head coach and director of hockey operations. He also played six seasons professionally, including four years with the Providence Bruins playing for the AHL Hall of Famer Rob Murray and head coach of the Vegas Golden Knights Bruce Cassidy.
The USHL fields top talent in the NCAA, and Dubuque gave MacDonald an opportunity to focus more on teaching the game than devoting significant time to coaching duties.
“You really learn to work with guys, to communicate and manage people,” MacDonald said. It's not just, 'Oh, you can trade your way out of trouble.' You have to work with people and try to connect with each guy to get the best out of them.
“Likewise, hockey. You come in every day [asking] how can we help these guys get better.”
Now MacDonald is ready to use that knowledge in major league hockey development. Along the way, he was able to learn from the likes of Murray and Cassidy among others.
“I wasn't very good,” MacDonald joked of his playing days. “You have to work and put in the time. I guess what you can say is that I come every day. You do that, and I think the results start to take care of themselves.”
In college at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, MacDonald played for the former head coach of the Rochester Americans Seth Appert as well as Jim Montgomerywho is now the head coach of the Boston Bruins. Playing for Appert, MacDonald remembers, was “the first time you really saw a new coach.” That experience helped shape MacDonald's coaching style to this day.
It's easy to see how MacDonald clicked with Dubas and Spezza. Dubas has long emphasized a strong, player-friendly environment, and Spezza maintains a friendly, outgoing approach that goes back to his days as an AHL prospect in the Ottawa organization.
“It's okay to have a conversation and be human,” MacDonald said. You start to notice that the closer you get to guys, the more they will want to listen to what you have to say.
TheAHL.com features writer Patrick Williams has covered the American Hockey League for nearly two decades at outlets including NHL.com, Sportsnet, TSN, Hockey News, SiriusXM NHL Network Radio and SLAM ! Sports, and most recently was the host of The Hockey News On The 'A' podcast. He was the recipient of the AHL's James H. Ellery Memorial Award for the league's top scorer in 2016.
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