Kyle Dubas is reuniting with one other familiar face from his Toronto days. The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired Brandon Pridham, the previous Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager, as a Hockey Operations Consultant.
He’ll take over the contract, cap management, and planning responsibilities left vacant by Vukie Mpofu, who departed earlier this month to turn out to be assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators. He will even mentor junior members of Pittsburgh’s front office staff, in line with Sportsnet’s Elliotte Friedman.
The hire reunites two executives with an extended history together. Pridham first joined the Maple Leafs organization in 2014 as a special assistant to the overall manager, then rose to assistant GM in 2018 once Dubas took over as Toronto’s GM. In that role, Pridham became considered one of the league’s most respected salary-cap minds, playing a central part within the contract negotiations that kept stars like Auston Matthews, Mitch Marner, William Nylander, and John Tavares under one roof.
Pridham parted ways with Toronto earlier this offseason after 12 years with the organization, a departure tied to sweeping front-office changes under recent general manager John Chayka. He briefly served as interim co-GM following Brad Treliving’s firing in March before the split became official.
His arrival in Pittsburgh continues a pattern of former Leafs staffers following Dubas east. Pridham joins Jason Spezza and Wes Clark as members of the Penguins front office who also worked under Dubas in Toronto, giving the organization a growing pipeline of familiar, trusted voices.
The timing lines up with a pivotal stretch for Pittsburgh. Each Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin are under contract through the 2026-27 season, while Erik Karlsson’s contract runs for a pair more years at a hefty cap hit. Pridham’s cap expertise figures to play a big role as Dubas navigates those decisions while continuing to construct out a young core that already includes players like Egor Chinakhov, who signed a three-year extension after a breakout season in Pittsburgh.
Kyle Dubas is reuniting with one other familiar face from his Toronto days. The Pittsburgh Penguins have hired Brandon Pridham, the previous Toronto Maple Leafs assistant general manager, as a Hockey Operations Consultant. He’ll take over the contract, cap management, and planning responsibilities left vacant by Vukie Mpofu, who departed earlier this month to turn out to be assistant general manager of the Nashville Predators.