"We are very fortunate to have Patrik on our staff to make this an easy transition," Rutherford said. "He is a terrific judge of talent, and he has the leadership qualities to lead our amateur scouting department into the future."

The Pittsburgh Penguins have promoted Patrik Allvin to director of amateur scouting, it was announced today by executive vice president and general manager Jim Rutherford.

Allvin replaces Randy Sexton, who left to become the assistant general manager for the Buffalo Sabres.

In his new role, Allvin, 42, will oversee the Penguins' amateur scouting efforts in both North America and Europe. He and his staff will report directly to Penguins assistant general manager Jason Karmanos.

A native of Falun, Sweden, Allvin will be entering his 12th season in the Penguins' organization this fall, having originally joined the club as a European scout beginning with the 2006-07 campaign.

Allvin was promoted to head European scout in 2012. In that role, Allvin has led Pittsburgh's scouting efforts of both amateur and professional players in Europe.

Before joining the Penguins, Allvin broke into the scouting ranks as a European scout for the Montreal Canadiens from 2002-06.

Allvin's playing career began in his native Sweden with the famed Leksands program that also produced Penguins' two-time Stanley Cup champion Ulf Samuelsson. In addition to skating at various levels for Leksands, Allvin, who was a defenseman, also suited up for Mora, Bodens, Vita Hasten and Arvika in the Swedish hockey system.

Allvin came to North America for two years between 1995-97, skating for the Atlanta Knights and Quebec Rafales of the now-defunct International Hockey League, and for the Nashville Knights and Pensacola Ice Pilots in the ECHL.