Top 5 best GMs currently

[joestevens29]

Where would the Oilers be without their lottery picks?

We weren't really anywhere until we started adding players to complement the picks though.

 

[FlameChampion]

Can you explain why you have a “though” to Zito when the Panthers were an actual joke franchise through most of their existence and still seemed to have a ways to go before he got here? Beach city tax relief did nothing for the Panthers for 25+ years. I don’t get this mindset.

Why do I have to explain it? I am putting him on a top 5 list. Its easier to GM in places with nice weather and tax advantages.

Obviously nice weather and tax advantages doesn’t automatically make you great. Hence why hes on the list and Brisebois, Verbeek, Grier etc aren’t.

 

[Laus723]

Why do I have to explain it? I am putting him on a top 5 list. Its easier to GM in places with nice weather and tax advantages.

Obviously nice weather and tax advantages doesn’t automatically make you great. Hence why hes on the list and Brisebois, Verbeek, Grier etc aren’t.

Because I don’t understand the asterisk people give because of beaches and tax benefits. He’s the first GM in our team’s history that’s properly utilized those things, but he still has to hand them out to the right people and had to jettison the guys who were overpaid when he got here.

Edit: I’m not looking to get into anything, just curious as to peoples reasoning for saying it because it has never benefitted us at all in the past. If anything, it was looked at as a retirement destination the same way snowbirds do.

 

[TS Quint]

Don Sweeney has been pretty mediocre at draft table since taking over before 2015 draft

Boston Bruins Draft History at hockeydb.com

Really hasn't hit much of anything at draft in years also some of his trades have been pretty poor

Also, that 2015 1st round (his first draft) was a really bad start for his career as GM

His first major trade (Hamilton trade) netted 1st + 2 2nd's and he whiffed badly on picks

I put the 2015 draft squarely on Keith Gretzky, Director of scouting. Then the Oilers saw that mess and couldn't wait to "steal" Keith away because he has the #1 attribute Katz looks for, a last name that reminds him of the 80s Oilers.

 

[Voight]

How the heck are people suggesting GMs with short track record in the rebuilding phase (the easiest part) over GMs who’s consistently been getting results for their team?

My picks would be Zito, Nill, Sweeney, McCrimmon, and Cheveldayoff.

If you're going to go with results then BriseBois should be there not Chevy. Jets haven't made it to the third round in six years. BriseBois club won back to back cups and then made another final.

 

[TS Quint]

Habs fans love to count their chickens before they hatch. Actually, they count those chickens until they put on a different organizations jersey, then they always knew how bad that player was.

 

[Zarzh]

Why so bitter? Just saying he had a lot to do with making Tampa a Stanley Cup champion...Most other teams in the NHL have what you mention above but haven't sniffed a Stanley Cup.

Yzerman is an awful GM, and Tampa Bay having incredibly weak brackets has the most to do making them champions, the Islanders almost won a championship in those years.

An average GM would have 3 cups starting from Yzerman's situation, or 5 cups if they had his luck.

 

[TS Quint]

I guess it depends on what you're basing it on.

I look at most of the lists here and it's not factoring things in well IMO. I'd have my top GM as Hughes and I'm not a Habs fan or hater. Lots of lists have Zito, Nill, Brisebois, McCrimmon. I have to note it's damn easy being a GM in a nice weather city with no state taxes. Being a GM in the highest tax market in the league with Canadian winter and TWO contingents of media is a herculean task.

Kent Hughes is the best GM I've seen in the league. Wins most of his trades, sometimes by a wide margin. Heck, he somehow got TWO 1st round picks for Monahan. He's drafted well, hired the right coach for this stage of their development and managed the terrible cap situation he inherited well.

I could be the GM of the Panthers. Not a hard job in todays player climate.

Panthers GM sure looked like a hard job until Zito got there.

 

[surixon]

He also waited out Winnipeg's best cup window without making significant moves outside of the failed addition of Kevin Hayes, I think he's always been too tentative

You are forgetting the Stastny acquisition the year before that helped them get to the conference finals.

He also had Buff up and quit on the team the year after Hayes which is what torpedoed the window imo.

 

[NotAVacuumSalesman]

If you're going to go with results then BriseBois should be there not Chevy. Jets haven't made it to the third round in six years. BriseBois club won back to back cups and then made another final.

Nah, I’m not only looking for results. I did however consider JBB at that spot, but decided to go with Chevy. Winnipeg’s a lot more challenging when you factor in location, tax, weather, things to do, etc. I’m pretty sure Winnipeg is one of the city players have on their no-trade list.

He’s able to maintain a competitive roster for a majority of his tenure there. He won a fair share of trades. Pretty good drafting. Contract negotiations and cap allocations are spot on.

 

[pb1300]

Some people still don't understand in how big hole Panthers and Zito has found themselves in 2020. The franchise had 3 cornerstones in Barkov, Huberdeau, Ekblad, all in their primes, and with Q on the bench (partially because Tallon and Q knew each other in Chicago and Q signed huge 5-year deal for a coach). That was all their assets. The other pieces were either not worthy the price or couldn't move the needle. A team wasting prime years of the core, struggling to find their identity. Zito inherited quite a few Tallon-era anchors created by lack of stable vision on roster building, outdated understanding of how hockey in cap era works, scouting mistakes, or simply lack of patience/desperation. Here is breakdown of that situation in 2020/2021 season:

- Bobrovsky, poor first year in Florida, 6 more years of 10M$/y contract, was considered the worst contract in the league, untradeable

- Yandle, 6,35*3 years, was on crushing decline, barely could defend or play physical in 2020-2021 season. Q was forced to play him in very sheltered role until he was bought out because he didn't want to waive his NMC. In his last NHL season with Flyers, he was the worst defenseman in the league or something close.

- Stralman, 5,5*2 years, unfortunately just couldn't live up to expectations because his body was too broken by past injuries.

- Matheson, 4,875*6 years, talented D-man selected in first round, has all the tools, but something wasn't working for him. His last two seasons in Florida were marked by constant turnovers to the point that he was healthy scratched in playoff bubble and deployed as a winger in a few games. He became a meme for the fanbase for all the wrong reasons. There was once a joke about "Matheson hat-trick" which means D-man losing his position leading to a goal against + taking a bad penalty leading to a goal against + getting beat one-on-one leading to a goal against. That's how ridiculously bad the situation was.

- Connolly, 3,5*3 years, started his first season in Florida on fire, then faded away, was invisible in playoff bubble, became barely playable in his second season there. Reasons unknown (lack of motivation? mental problems?)

That's roughly 30M$+ cap tied in players contributing too little on a multi-year deals. The team needed 2C (after Trocheck trade), 3C, at least couple of top-6 wingers, and a complete rewamp on defence. The franchise hasn't won the playoff series for 24 years since 1996, the fanbase became impatient. Of course, there were a lot of interesting prospects at that time, the issue however was that Panthers were constantly failing in drafting and/or developing their young players. Borgstrom, Heponiemi, Denisenko all were very promising at some point, but eventually busted. Tippett became a solid player, but not in Florida. With every days it was more clear that Panthers can't overcome their issues by internal replacements, however, the new rebuild and tanking wasn't the option as the remnants of fan support possibly wouldn't survive it. Instead, they needed something fresh, and it was not the overpaying high-pedigree veteran UFAs. A tricky solutions by aggressive and open-minded GM willing to take calculated risks and exploiting market and other GMs inefficiencies. This was the Zito plan, combining scouting observations and analytical insights with communication with coaching staff to ensure that the players fit the system to outperform their expectations and further developing. A lot of these players were ultimate buy-low options, basically custoffs who went out of favor with other teams for some reasons. The moment they came to Florida, it instantly started to look like Zito fooled everyone.

I wish you've been there to properly watch that turnaround yourself. From that first excitement that Verhaeghe is instantly playing like a first line forward there despite being occassionally healthy scratched in Tampa (and not leaving in expansion draft this time!) to healing one fanbase's generational trauma after another in playoffs. From cautious optimism about Forsling playing as what Matheson should've become there to him solidifying as a #1D on ridiculously good contract. From stopgapping 2C spot by Wennberg to finding long-term solution in Sam Bennett. From Montour looking immediately not trash analytically since his first minutes there to eventually pricing himself out of Florida. From wondering how much Reinhart would contrubute there after experiencing constant losing in Buffalo to him scoring that golden goal. From utilising speed of Duclair to finding more well-rounded player in Rodrigues, who fits more for Maurice system. From trading franchise cornerstone in Huberdeau and #2D Weegar for Tkachuk and being told by everyone that this was a disastrous trade to Chucky putting the finishing touch to team identity with his skills, effort, leadership, and locker room presence. From Maurice hire being considered the worst ever to best ever. There are so many little stories behind Panthers franchise going from "Coyotes tier" to "golden standard for roster buliding and cap management". I'm still in the process of realizing that it wasn't a fantasy, because you more likely find these tropes in movies or fairy tales. The one thing I'm convinced: that turnaround deserves to be well-documented. There are so many lessons that can possibly be taught from this, not only in the topic of hockey or team management.

@Laus723 Its bullshit. We NEVER heard anything regarding the taxes when we were signing scrubs and over-the-hills, who were looking for their last significant paychecks. Maybe other teams should make better hirings in management, and better decisions with their own, than blaming the sun and taxes

@ScottyMascotty Its Miami Heat culture. I have been begging the team for years to follow that blueprint, from building a team, to the treatment of the fans, to the in game experience. The model that works in South Florida, that will build a successful team, and a fan base, was right in front of their eyes. The previous Panthers owners just did not want to make the committment necessary for that to happen.

 

[The Gr8 Dane]

Sure you can roast hughes for simply selling and rebuilding.

But honestly i never thought we would ever actually rebuild in montreal. Being a mediocre team and always trying to make the loffs was kind of our thing.

I can't imagine Bergevin's rebuild , nightmare stuff

 

[Laus723]

@Laus723 Its bullshit. We NEVER heard anything regarding the taxes when we were signing scrubs and over-the-hills, who were looking for their last significant paychecks. Maybe other teams should make better hirings in management, and better decisions with their own, than blaming the sun and taxes

@ScottyMascotty Its Miami Heat culture. I have been begging the team for years to follow that blueprint, from building a team, to the treatment of the fans, to the in game experience. The model that works in South Florida, that will build a successful team, and a fan base, was right in front of their eyes. The previous Panthers owners just did not want to make the committment necessary for that to happen.

Yep. Can’t be owners, a brilliant GM, amazing facilities, and the well known culture in the room…it’s all “taxes.” I get it, people need to have an excuse why their team isn’t able to do the same. As a Cat fan, I made plenty.

 

[Suntouchable13]

Honestly, I think Kent Hughes is there. Sure, his team is still rebuilding but I really love what he is doing up there. Very smart GM.

 

[BLONG7]

Honestly, I think Kent Hughes is there. Sure, his team is still rebuilding but I really love what he is doing up there. Very smart GM.

But he doesn't have an HF account.....lol

Haters gonna hate ....... leafs and habs can be huge targets, with an audience that is also big.

Winning..................is the only thing that changes anything, and has people deleting their accounts when the crow flies.

 

[Craig Ludwig]

Yzerman is an awful GM, and Tampa Bay having incredibly weak brackets has the most to do making them champions, the Islanders almost won a championship in those years.

An average GM would have 3 cups starting from Yzerman's situation, or 5 cups if they had his luck.

Pretty sure the President Cup's trophy winner Boston Bruins would disagree with you after they got beat by Tampa. "Almost" won a Stanley Cup, Okely Dokely...

Also, most other GMs would disagree with you while looking at his shrewd picks of Seider and Raymond. Did your GM Application get lost in the Detroit mail?

 

[dirtydanglez]

brisebois, macfarland, mccrimmon, nill, sweeney, zito.

a lot of new gm's so maybe this list changes quickly.

 

[Laus723]

It’s $12 a year to remove the damn ads. I don’t get people who don’t become sponsors.

Why’re people suddenly laughing at this? $12 A YEAR too much to spend on something you’re on several times throughout the day? Especially if you hate the ads?? I have no ad issues. It’s $12.

 

[Voight]

Nah, I’m not only looking for results. I did however consider JBB at that spot, but decided to go with Chevy. Winnipeg’s a lot more challenging when you factor in location, tax, weather, things to do, etc. I’m pretty sure Winnipeg is one of the city players have on their no-trade list.

He’s able to maintain a competitive roster for a majority of his tenure there. He won a fair share of trades. Pretty good drafting. Contract negotiations and cap allocations are spot on.

Well the goal is to win the cup and JBB has more than any active GM. I agree Chevy has done a good job especially because it's Winnipeg but the team hasn't had much playoff success. It's great that hes developed their entire core in-house and has been able to keep most of them on longterm deals but that hasn't lead to any deep playoff runs.

 

[LiseL]

I am thinking, if you were a fan of either team, you would feel differently......both thesse GM;s were left a huge mess......anyhow.

Not a big deal no matter how you slice it.....

If being left a mess is the criteria, then Steve Staois, who replaced Dorion, would be in the conversation. Top GMs should be those who have either built the contenders or iced a good team under difficult conditions due to market size and/or location of the franchise. With that in mind, my vote would be Zito, Nill, McCrimmon, Waddell, Chevy.

 

[BLONG7]

If being left a mess is the criteria, then Steve Staois, who replaced Dorion, would be in the conversation. Top GMs should be those who have either built the contenders or iced a good team under difficult conditions due to market size and/or location of the franchise. With that in mind, my vote would be Zito, Nill, McCrimmon, Waddell, Chevy.

Can't argue with those choices.....there are many out there.

 

[Zarzh]

Pretty sure the President Cup's trophy winner Boston Bruins would disagree with you after they got beat by Tampa. "Almost" won a Stanley Cup, Okely Dokely...

Also, most other GMs would disagree with you while looking at his shrewd picks of Seider and Raymond. Did your GM Application get lost in the Detroit mail?

Seider was a Holland pick as much if not more than Yzerman.

That's the problem with Yzerman fans, they can't read. You're actually bragging about beating a team after their best and most important player refused to come back for the playoffs?

 

[norrisnick]

Seider was a Holland pick as much if not more than Yzerman.

That's the problem with Yzerman fans, they can't read. You're actually bragging about beating a team after their best and most important player refused to come back for the playoffs?

Yzerman was meeting with Seider when he was still with Tampa. He was always going to get Mo somehow.

 

[DaPhazz]

What have they proven they can do but put together a losing team? Anyone can be bad and draft players

follow the trades and signing maybe?

 

[Washed Up 29YearOld]

Yep. Can’t be owners, a brilliant GM, amazing facilities, and the well known culture in the room…it’s all “taxes.” I get it, people need to have an excuse why their team isn’t able to do the same. As a Cat fan, I made plenty.

Beach city, taxes. DOESN'T COUNT!!!