Penguins assistant general manager Jason Spezza will take part in the World Championships for Team Canada. Spezza joins recently fired Toronto GM Brad Treliving with input from Pens’ GM Kyle Dubas for the event.
Dubas has long been a Hockey Canada favorite, also taking part in the management group for the silver medaling winning Olympic team in 2026.
Spezza’s involvement and rise looks like the bigger story here, Spezza finished up his successful playing career with Toronto in 2021-22 and quickly became something of Dubas’s right hand man, starting with the Maple Leafs in 2022-23 in the official role of special advisor to the GM. Spezza followed Dubas to Pittsburgh for the 2023-24 season, getting a title in promotion of assistant GM, a position he’s held for the last three seasons. Spezza has also served as the general manager of the Wilkes-Barre AHL team for the past two seasons, under which the Pens’ minor league team has made a major improvement and turnaround.
Spezza’s work is getting notice, he was included by an agent by name in a poll The Athletic conducted. Pittsburgh finished in third place as ‘the easiest front office to deal with’ category.
The surprisingly successful Pittsburgh Penguins earned some praise here, too, with agents pointing to fledgling assistant GM Jason Spezza as a new bright light in their front office.
“They communicate to the players what they’re looking for,” one agent said of the Penguins. “They communicate with the agents what they are doing. And that sets them up for success.”
Spezza, 42, is an ascending name to watch for potential candidates to fill a GM role. His name is already being batted around in the media as someone who could be in the mix for the job with Toronto or New Jersey as soon as this cycle. Adding the experience of working with Team Canada at Worlds is only going to increase his exposure as his managerial career continues to gain accolades and attention that could eventually lead to Spezza branching out from working with Dubas and running his own NHL team.
