Spezza served as special assistant to then-Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas in their final season with the club in 2022-23.
Former Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has made several changes to the Pittsburgh Penguins' front office, including a promotion for Jason Spezza.
On Monday afternoon, the Penguins' President of Hockey Operations and GM announced that Spezza would continue his role as assistant GM in Pittsburgh. However, he would also add GM of the AHL's Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to his title.
Spezza first got into management with Toronto after his final NHL season as a player in 2022. He served as the special assistant to Dubas with the Maple Leafs before moving to Pittsburgh after Dubas and Toronto parted ways on May 19, 2023.
The 41-year-old former NHLer was hired by Pittsburgh as an assistant GM on Jun. 14, 2023, nearly a month after Dubas departed from the Maple Leafs.
Spezza has played for the Maple Leafs, Dallas Stars, and Ottawa Senators throughout his NHL career, which spans over 1,000 games. He played three seasons with Toronto, scoring 31 goals and 49 assists in 183 games.
Dubas and Spezza were a part of the Maple Leafs' first-round series win against the Tampa Bay Lightning in 2023.
The Penguins also announced the hiring of Chris Roque as an amateur scout. Roque joined the Maple Leafs as an amateur scout in 2018 after spending six seasons as a scout with the OHL's Soo Greyhounds.
Roque is the third person to leave the Maple Leafs organization for Pittsburgh since Dubas took over there, along with Spezza and former Toronto director of player personnel, Wes Clark, who's now the Penguins' vice president of player personnel.
