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Former Penguins forward Dominik Simon signs with HC Plzen in Czechia.
Former Pittsburgh Penguins forward Dominik Simon has signed with HC Plzen of the Extraliga ledního hokeje (ELH) in Czechia.
That team announced the transaction via a release on Wednesday.
The 29-year-old Simon, a native of Czechia, previously played for HC Plzen during the 2014-15 season. Last season, the left-handed Simon played for Motor České Budějovice, also of the ELH. Appearing in 39 games, Simon had 17 points (five goals, 12 assists).
A fifth-round draft pick (No. 137 overall) of the Penguins in 2015, Simon spent parts of six seasons with the team throughout the late 2010s and early 2020s. Occasionally deployed on the top line with franchise center Sidney Crosby, Simon appeared in 228 games for the Penguins and scored 73 points (22 goals, 51 assists)
Another former Penguins forward, Martin Straka, is co-owner and general manager of HC Plzen.
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Former Penguins staffers Nick Pryor, Alexi Pianosi join Avalanche
Former Pittsburgh Penguins director of amateur scouting Nick Pryor as well as strength and conditioning coach Alexi Pianosi have joined the Colorado Avalanche in identical positions.
The Avalanche announced their hirings via a release on Wednesday.
Pryor had been employed by the Penguins since July of 2021 and had overseen the organization’s past three drafts, including the last two under president of hockey operations Kyle Dubas.
Pryor, 33, was hired by former general manager Ron Hextall and his father, former assistant general manager Chris Pryor, in July of 2021. He remained on staff after the Penguins fired Hextall along with Chris Pryor and then hired Dubas in the spring of 2023.
Pryor’s departure comes approximately two weeks after the Penguins hired Wes Clark, a long-time associate of Dubas, as vice president of player personnel, a position that oversees all of the organization’s scouting operations, including the amateur ranks.
During the NHL Draft last month in Las Vegas, Pryor was asked what it had been like to work for Dubas over the previous 13 months.
“He’s an extremely intelligent person who’s brought some really good ideas to the scouting staff in terms of how we watch the game and what types of things to look for,” Pryor said. “Just his outlook on things and how forward thinking he is on scouting has been really good for not only myself but our entire scouting staff in terms of making us look at things in a different way and relying on different things, whether it be video scouting or analytics or things like that. So we’re incorporating a lot of different things into the draft selection process right now.”
Pianosi, 35, had been with the Penguins since 2018. Initially hired under former general manager Jim Rutherford as an assistant conditioning coach, he was promoted in 2019 as strength and conditioning coach and remained in that position for the past five seasons.
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