Penguins sign Rutherford to 3-year extension

The Pittsburgh Penguins inked general manager Jim Rutherford to a three-year contract extension Wednesday that will keep him with the team through the 2021-22 season.

The 69-year-old is in his 25th year as an NHL general manager and his fifth with the Penguins.

During his tenure with Pittsburgh, he's helped build the team into a perennial contender, with four 100-plus-point seasons and back-to-back Stanley Cups in 2016 and 2017.

"We think Jim Rutherford is one of the best general managers in all of sports and, during his tenure in Pittsburgh, arguably the best GM in the NHL," Penguins co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle said in a statement. "His goal every year is to win the Stanley Cup and that kind of commitment to excellence is what drives us all."

Rutherford won his first Stanley Cup with the Carolina Hurricanes in 2006. Stan Bowman of the Chicago Blackhawks is the only other GM to win three championships in the salary-cap era. Rutherford ranks eighth all time among general managers in both wins (850) and games managed (1,834).