Penguins interim general manager Patrik Allvin has put in the work with organization

Bill Guerin has seen the world.

When you’re one of the best hockey players the U.S. has ever produced, that affords you the chance to play in Olympic or international tournaments staged in exotic locales such as Italy or Japan.

But after his playing days concluded and he took the first steps of his management career with the Pittsburgh Penguins during the last decade, Guerin needed a guide, particularly when it came to making his way through the mish-mashed realm of hockey leagues in Europe.

He had a pretty good navigator in Patrik Allvin, then the Penguins’ director of European scouting.

“Patrik was the guy that I dealt with,” said Guerin, now the general manager of the Minnesota Wild. “Anything in Europe, he was the head guy. Anytime I’d go over there, it would be with him.

“There are not too many guys in this game that I think more highly of than him.”

Today, Allvin is one of Guerin’s peers, professionally speaking.

Upon the sudden resignation of Penguins general manager Jim Rutherford on Wednesday, Allvin was installed as the team’s interim general manager.

His promotion from the assistant general manager role was something of a shock for Allvin.

“There was definitely a lot of calls and text (messages) yesterday from around the world, a lot of hockey people,” Allvin said via video conference. “When you think about that, it’s hard with such a short time here to let it sink in. It’s important for myself and my staff here to be ready, to work hard and be prepared and support the team here.”

Allvin, 46, has been a pillar of support for the team over the past decade and a half. Hired as a European scout by former Penguins general manager Ray Shero in 2006, Allvin, a native of Sweden, has made a steady climb up the organization’s hierarchy.

In 2012, he was promoted to director of European scouting, then to the director of amateur scouting in 2017.

In November, following the dismissal of former assistant general manager Jason Karmanos, Allvin was installed into that position by Rutherford.

The man Allvin is replacing gave him a hearty endorsement.

“I think he’ll handle it fine,” Rutherford said by phone Wednesday. “He’s a very good hockey guy. He’s very smart. He obviously doesn’t have a lot of experience. But he has enough experience and understands this team pretty well. I don’t think there’s going to be any problems for Patrik going forward.”

Penguins CEO and president David Morehouse indicated Allvin is a candidate for the full-time position while a search goes on to fill the role.

Allvin’s resume certainly impresses those who worked with them.

“He’s more than capable,” Guerin said by phone Wednesday. “I think the world of Patrik. He’s capable. He’s smart. He knows people. He works hard. He knows that organization better than anybody, and he’d be great at it.”

Given his scouting background, much of Allvin’s time was in talent evaluation. While much of his focus was in Europe, he had input on drafts that produced players such as Bryan Rust, Tom Kuhnhackl, Matt Murray, Jake Guenzel and others who contributed to the Stanley Cup titles in 2016 and ’17.

“He was part of the group that pretty much drafted those teams,” Guerin said. “He’s had a big impact on the Penguins in that respect.

“He works his tail off. You can’t substitute that. He sacrificed a lot of time at home traveling the world. When he took over the director of amateur scouting, he did it for a year being in Europe. So he had about 15 or 20 trips overseas. He’s put in a lot of time and a lot of miles. It’s pretty incredible. You can’t substitute the hard work and the sacrifice that he’s had.”

For the time being, Allvin will work under the tutelage of owner Mario Lemieux.

“He’s going to have full authority,” Morehouse said. “He’s also going to have Mario Lemieux as a backup. So I think we’re OK in that area … Mario’s had some experience around this stuff so I think we’ll be OK.”

In the immediate sense, the Penguins aren’t exactly OK, especially on the blue line where injuries have dug into the depth Rutherford accrued this past offseason.

Allvin has been dealing with coach Mike Sullivan on the day-to-day concerns of the roster.

“I have a good relationship with Patrik,” Sullivan said Thursday. “He’s a really smart guy. He has a wealth of experience in different aspects of the game. He’s a great personnel guy as far as his evaluation and assessment of players and how they might fit into our team to help us win. My relationship with Patrik is really good. I look forward to the opportunity to get to know him even better. … We’ll communicate a whole lot more. We’ve had a number of conversations already to this point and we’ll continue to develop a relationship.”

Allvin appears to have already made enough of an impact to merit serious consideration for a permanent promotion.

“One of his strengths, honestly, is that he’s extremely open-minded,” Guerin said. “He’s got the ability to work with anybody. That makes him a great evaluator of talent, as well. And he’s a team guy. Being open-minded, it’s not something that just everybody possesses. But it sure helps you manage a staff and see the other side of things. That helps you get things done. He’s a great communicator.

“To a man on that staff, everybody adores the guy. Everybody loves him.”

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