BOSTON -- Penguins CEO Ken Sawyer will retire Aug. 31.

David Morehouse, the team's president, will assume Sawyer's CEO duties, as well.

Sawyer joined the Penguins as executive vice president when co-owners Mario Lemieux and Ron Burkle bought the team in 1999, and was named president in 2003. He has been CEO since 2006 and oversaw construction of the Consol Energy Center.

Before joining the Penguins, Sawyer had been chief financial officer of the NHL for 14 years.

"When you think of Ken Sawyer, you think of stability, of success, of commitment to the community," NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said in a prepared statement. "When you think of the Pittsburgh Penguins, you think of the same things. It's no coincidence."

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