OK, the best way to put Rob Blake’s utter failure into perspective is to compare his run with the best GM (In my opinion) in Hockey, Bill Zito of Florida. Zito has been a GM for a little more than half as long as Blake, and has his team headed to their second SC final in two years as the presumptive favorite. Before Zito got there, the Panthers were the epitome of NHL mediocrity, yet in his second year, the team won the President’s trophy and now stands four games from winning the Cup, and I guarantee neither the Oilers nor Stars are looking forward to playing them.
So, how did Zito do it? First, like Dean Lombardi, he inherited a core- Barkov is a Kopitar clone (AB is more physical but is not the skater AK is). He also had a #1 goaltender in Bobrovsky who is paid almost twice as much as Quick in his prime and who can be inconsistent in games that don’t mean anything. He also had a #1 D-man in Ekblad who is injury prone and not as skilled as Doughty. So, given this core, how did Zito turn things around so quickly? There are three ways for a GM to improve a club – drafting, trades and finding pieces that are undervalued by everyone else and bringing them in. Zito has excelled at the latter two, finding it more productive to move picks and open the team’s window of competitiveness earlier. Let’s look at some moves:
Carter Verhaege, the second leading scorer in the playoffs was signed after being non-tendered by Tampa.
Gustav Forsling, to my uneducated eyes is one of the best players in the NHL (reminds me of Nick Lidstrom without the offensive upside) was a waiver claim. He’s now signed at less the $6mm for the next 8 seasons. He’s a lot better than Gavrikov who cost us a #1 pick.
Sam Bennett, the human wrecking ball and clutch scorer, was a former #4 overall pick who was miscast in Calgary and acquired for the 61st pick in the 2022 draft plus a bag of pucks.
Sam Reinhart, the second leading goal scorer in the league and who was #1 in power play goals cost just a late #1 pick and a top goalie prospect who was redundant because Florida has Spencer Knight who was drafted by the previous regime.
Evan Rodrigues, who somehow found another gear in Florida was a UFA.
Oliver Ekman-Larsson who was miscast as a top pairing defender by two teams but who is an elite on the bottom pair was signed to a low risk, inexpensive contract and now pilots the second power play unit.
Ditto Dmitri Kulikov who is playing the best hockey of his career when placed in a sheltered role where he’s not asked to do too much.
Zito did it again with Niko Mikkola who was always undervalued by St. Louis and whose lack of foot speed is made up for by a mean streak and now clever positioning (likely due to coaching)
Brandon Montour who was the team’s best d-man last season before being surpassed by Forsling cost only a third round pick after Buffalo gave up a #1 to acquire him from the Ducks.
That makes five of their top six defensemen who were pulled off the scrap heap. Even the team’s #7 d-man, Josh Mahura, was a waiver claim. My bet is Tobias Bjornfot, who Zito also picked up on waivers, will become a legit NHL player in Florida.
One might be tempted to say that this was blind luck, but when it happens over and over again, and when you recognize something in Forsling that no one else saw, one needs to start admiring Zito’s work. These were all moves Rob Blake could have made.
Then, to cap it off, Zito makes perhaps the best trade in the NHL over the past five seasons. He takes a pushing 30 year old franchise icon who was at the top of his market value but who Zito did not want to pay and sends him along with another pending UFA in Mackenzie Weegar who Forsling replaced and a #1 to obtain one of the most impactful players in the NHL and a heart and soul guy in Matthew Tkachuk who happens to be in the heart of his prime years. And, Tkachuk is four+ years younger than Huberdeau and is pad $1mm less a season. Zito fleeced Calgary twice, Tkachuk and Bennett.
This is how winners are built. Zito has a problem in the offseason with some UFAs to sign, but if the Panthers win the Cup, who cares? He also has $20mm in cap space to play with, remarkable given he has a Stanley Cup capable roster, a core locked up and more cap space than the Kings. Zito does have one advantage that Blake lacks, the no income tax status in Florida which evidently is attractive to a lot of players. Having said that, anyone who wants to apologize for Blake’s lack of performance only needs to look at Bill Zito and what could have been. I hope Edmonton wins tonight so I can watch them get schooled by the Panthers who have that lean and hungry look to go along with their talent. Go Panthers!
