Report: Penguins permitted to interview Drury, MacFarland, Ferguson for GM

With no shortage of interest in the open Pittsburgh Penguins general manager position, the club has added three more names to its list of candidates.

Pittsburgh has been granted permission to interview New York Rangers assistant general manager Chris Drury, Colorado Avalanche assistant GM Chris MacFarland, and Boston Bruins director of player personnel John Ferguson Jr., TSN's Frank Seravalli reported on Tuesday's edition of "Insider Trading."

The Penguins have received more than 20 expressions of interest in the position, Seravalli adds. Pittsburgh is reportedly hoping to shorten its list to six or seven candidates by the end of the week and hire its new GM within the next two weeks.

Drury, 44, played 12 NHL seasons before retiring after the 2010-11 campaign. The Connecticut native joined the Rangers as their director of player development in 2015 before being promoted to assistant GM in 2016. He's also been the GM of the AHL's Hartford Wolf Pack since 2017.

The Avalanche hired MacFarland in 2016 after he'd spent 16 years in the Columbus Blue Jackets' hockey operations department. The 50-year-old also served as the Blue Jackets' assistant GM from 2008-2015.

Ferguson, 53, joined the Bruins organization in 2014. He's also served as a scout for the San Jose Sharks and as the GM for the Toronto Maple Leafs.

Jim Rutherford resigned as the Penguins' GM last week after holding the position since June 2014.