George Richards, FHN Publisher
The Florida Panthers offseason of change within their front office appears to be complete after the team officially announced the hiring of Paul Krepelka and Tom Bark on Monday.
Krepelka will officially replace the departed Eric Joyce as the team’s assistant general manager under Bill Zito.
A former player agent like Zito, Krepelka (who co-founded the Orr Hockey Group) has spent the past two seasons as the senior VP of hockey operations for the Carolina Hurricanes.
He knows the Panthers’ new AHL affiliate well; Florida takes over the Charlotte Checkers from Carolina this coming season.
Krepelka, like Joyce before him, will run Florida’s AHL team among having other duties within in the team’s front office.
Bark reunites with Zito after spending the past four years with the Columbus Blue Jackets most recently as manager of scouting operations and player evaluation.
With the Panthers, Bark will be an assistant to the general manager, joining former Columbus teammates Gregory Campbell and Blake Geoffrion in the Florida front office.
Zito has also hired former NHL general managers Paul Fenton and Rick Dudley since being hired as Dale Tallon’s replacement on Sept. 2.
Joyce, who had been in the Florida front office since 2013, left last month to take a job with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Bark will have a lot of say in the Panthers’ use of data analytics and the team’s strategic planning.
“Paul and Tom are crucial additions to our hockey operations staff,” Zito said in a statement.
“Paul joins the Florida Panthers with a wealth of experience from his time in the NHL, ECHL and on the agent side of the hockey business.
“As for Tom, I know him well from our time together in Columbus where he provided exceptional insight on the scouting and evaluation side of the game.
“I am thrilled to have them both on our team as we prepare for the upcoming season.”