It was announced Tuesday that Clark would be leaving Toronto to become the vice president of player personnel for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
In a video posted Tuesday following the announcement that Wes Clark would be reuniting with former Toronto Maple Leafs general manager Kyle Dubas in Pittsburgh as the vice president of player personnel for the Penguins, Clark shared an intriguing message with his followers on ‘X’.
The video, captioned “Excited for the next great challenge… Penguins hockey,” featured a clip of Adam Huberman talking about loyalty, with the leading quote being, “Don't eat with people you wouldn't starve with."
The phrase hints at a deeper sentiment behind Clark's departure from the Maple Leafs, suggesting that Clark values loyalty and trust above all else – referring to his relationship with Dubas. The latter half of the clip quoted, “To me, loyalty is really big because if you invest in certain people in your life and they stick by you and you stick by them, what else is life about?”
Dubas and Clark have a long work history, but all roads have ultimately led back to one another. It started in the Ontario Hockey League with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds when Dubas served as general manager of the OHL club and Clark was the director of player personnel. When Dubas made the jump to the NHL in 2014, becoming the assistant general manager of the Leafs, Clark followed the same year as an amateur scout.
In 2016, Clark joined the Florida Panthers as a scout until Dubas, promoted to general manager in Toronto, re-hired Clark as an assistant director of player personnel. Clark was later advanced to the director of scouting role during the 2021-22 season. The Clark/Dubas relationship has been closely knit for quite some time, and now the pair are reunited once again in Pittsburgh.
As stated in an official article posted on the Penguins’ site on NHL.com, Clark will oversee the club’s amateur, professional and college/European free-agent scouting departments and will report directly to Dubas.
Dubas added to the statement by stating the following, “By adding Wes to lead the departments directed by Nick Pryor and Andy, along with the valuable experience and wisdom that Trent provides, we have tried to put the Penguins in a strong position to go out and execute on our personnel strategy in the short and long run.”
“Having worked with Wes for many years, I have a deep trust in his ability to identify talent, lead staffs, advance our scouting process and methods, learn from mistakes to improve processes and to challenge my own thinking and planning on a near daily basis.”
Clark’s video and his emphasis on loyalty imply that his decision to leave Toronto was motivated by both professional and personal reasons. His steadfast loyalty to Dubas and the mutual trust and respect they share appear to be the driving forces behind his move to Pittsburgh. For the Leafs, they’ll now likely turn their attention to Derek Clancey, who was brought on as an assistant general manager of player personnel last summer, and depend on his abilities to lead the way.
