Pryor replaces Derek Clancey, who had spent the 2019-20 campaign as director of player personnel. Prior to that, Clancey had served nine seasons as director of pro scouting and the three years prior to that as a pro scout.
"Certainly would like to thank Derek for his service to the Penguins and wish him the best in the future," Hextall said. "Philosophically, if I'm going to let someone go, I always like to do it sooner than later to allow them a chance to get back on their feet."
Moving forward, Hextall said the plan is for himself, Pryor and president of hockey operations Brian Burke to sit down with assistant general manager Patrik Allvin - who has been a wealth of knowledge - and do a full evaluation on their staff.
Once they get that situation figured out and make decisions as to whether they need more people in different areas, Hextall said they will have a more specific dissemination of duties.
"But for right now, I'm extremely happy to have Chris on board," Hextall said. "Chris has got a great eye for talent. And I look forward to working with him again."
Pryor, who most recently served as an amateur scout with Nashville, has over 25 years of scouting and managerial experience. He served various roles with the Philadelphia Flyers starting in 1999, which is the same year Hextall moved into the organization's front office. Pryor's roles included amateur scout, director of scouting, and director of player personnel. And during Hextall's time as Flyers general manager from 2014-18, Pryor served as one of his assistant general managers the last two years.
Some of Pryor's noteworthy draft picks in Philadelphia include Claude Giroux, Sean Couturier, Travis Sanheim, Ivan Provorov, Travis Konecny and Carter Hart.
"Chris has got a strong opinion, but he's also open to other people's opinions and working as a group," Hextall said. "The biggest thing with scouting, to me, is you've got to use your whole group. Everybody's got to be involved, they've got to feel involved, and they have to feel an ownership. But Chris was our top amateur guy there, and his success speaks for itself."
Hextall said their philosophy and approach to the draft centers around one word.
"The word I like to use is will," Hextall said.
That's the biggest thing he and Pryor look for in players regardless of their role, and it's not necessarily a physical aspect.
"To compete on a nightly basis, to win 1-on-1 battles, to take a hit to get a puck - all those types of things that are important for playoff hockey," Hextall explained. "You've got to have guys that sacrifice."
Hextall and Pryor understand they have a big challenge ahead when it comes to restocking Pittsburgh's prospect pipeline, as the Penguins have had to trade away high draft picks in their quest for championships.
"First of all, credit to Jimmy (Rutherford) and the two Stanley Cups," Hextall said. "Obviously when that happens, at some point your prospect pool is going to dry up. So we need to replenish that for sure. It is a priority. But we also want to maintain the best possible team for today. So we'll kind of walk that fine line and make decisions as we go along here, and there's going to be some tough ones for sure."
In terms of what he's seen from the current Penguins since taking over, what stands out the most to Hextall has been the intensity of practice.
"I think the coaches run a terrific practice," Hextall said. "I think the players all buy in. And it's really important to practice at a high tempo, because the game is at such a high tempo nowadays. We don't get many practices, but when we do, it's a high level. So that's the first thing that I like."
When it comes to the areas that need improvement, Hextall listed the team's consistency.
"It's a tough season right now with so many games in so few days, but it's something that you got to battle every night," he said. "And I think we can raise (not only) our level a little bit, but our consistency level for sure."
