As questionable as some of Mike Smith's decisions were, he ushered in the Russian age in the NHL. I loved watching Zhamnov, Mironov, Davydov, Khabibulin, and Korolev, and you can thank Mike Smith for that. He also drafted Keith Tkachuk.
Mike Smith had absolutely nothing to do with Igor Korolev. The Jets claimed him off waivers from St.Louis, nearly a year to the date Smith was fired from the Jets.
One of the best NHL era Winnipeg Jets teams was assembled by Mike Smith.
He did draft some good players, but his final drafts (with the exception of Khabi) in 1992 and 1993 stunk. Wasting a 1st round pick on a 25 year old Bautin? What makes the Bautin pick that much worse, is the next 2 picks after, were Jason Smith, who would go on the play over 1,000 games, and become a staple on the blue line for the Oilers, and Martin Straka, who was one of Pittsburgh's best forwards after Lemieux initially retired, and went on to put over 750 points. Smith could have took Bautin in the 5th round of any draft from 1989-92.
Smith was average, at best, in drafting, and never assembled the best Jets 1.0 teams. Their best years were in the mid 80s.
Also saying that he chased off Hawerchuk AND Housely (I know it was two separate people) is disingenuous.
He chased off Hawerchuk and Housley. Ducky, in particular, did not want to leave Winnipeg. Smith hated him, and to spite Hawerchuk, who was in his prime, instructed the coaches to reduce his ice time. Even when Smith was not GM, he reportedly told Ducky that if it were up to him, he would have drafted Bobby Carpenter instead.
As for Housley, it's been widely reported that during a New Year's Eve Jets party in 1992, Smith supposedly picked a fight with Housley, and the two nearly came to blows. Witness accounts put the blame on Smith, who told Housley he was done in Winnipeg after the season was over. True to his word, Smith traded Housley, and did not get a good return.
Smith did other things, like give away future Red Wings star Kris Draper to Detroit for $1. He also got rid of Stu Barnes for scraps. When the Jets finally pulled the plug on Smith in January 1994, they were dead last in the division, near the bottom of the league standings, which is similar to Smith's first year as Jets GM in 1988-89.
He traded Hawerchuk for Housley, who just happened to have 92 assists the year Selanne broke the rookie record. Also keep in mind that he was under SEVERE budget restrictions and still managed to have a team that was competitive most years.
Salaries did not start to rise dramatically, until Eagleson was ousted in 1992. I would not really call the Jets that competitive under Smith. They missed the playoffs 3 times in his 6 years as GM, and never finished with more than 84 points.