Which GM hire improved their team the most?

[Bjornar Moxnes]

The opposite of a previous trend. Which one GM did an astronomical amount of good for the team that hired him? No particular time period, you can give one that is either historical or current. Ideally current though.

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[kingsholygrail]

Is there a particular time period here?

 

[Leafshater67]

Barry Trotz.. oh wait

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

J

Is there a particular time period here?

ust updated the status!

 

[kingsholygrail]

Kelly McCrimmon. He made the absolute most of a good situation and has remained consistent.

 

[Acetylene]

Julien BriseBois

 

[Guttersniped]

The guy that added Brandon Montour, Carter Verhaeghe, Gustav Forsling, Sam Bennett, Sam Reinhart, Matthew Tkachuk, etc to this team.

 

[Bunch of Jurcos]

I gotta say Bill Zito. Seems like every move he's made has been the right one. Cups don't lie.

 

[Tawnos]

I know you said current, but I just want to put this one out there:

Neil Smith took a mediocre New York Rangers team in 1989 and transformed them into a short term powerhouse. It's one of the more proactively successful GM jobs I can think of. The first couple of years were decent, but then between the summer of 1991 and the 1994 deadline, he traded for 13 of 18 skaters on the ice to win the Cup. He also was the first to risk taking a Russian in the first round, and Kovalev played a significant role in the Cup win. The only players on the team left over from his predecessor were Leetch and Richter (not insignificant pieces, of course).

There's no doubt that there's a downside to this. Some of the players he traded went on to have better careers than the Rangers stints for the players they were traded for (Amonte and Weight, in particular). Plus, Smith was convinced by the 94 deadline that he'd be able to pull off similar moves and they mainly backfired. The end of his tenure was NOT great.

I just think it's a really interesting example of a GM vastly improving a team in a short period of time mostly through trades.

 

[5 Hole]

My man Bill Zito has done wonders for Florida.

 

[kerrabria]

The correct answer is Bill Zito. He should have won at least two Gregory awards by now.
For context, Zito took over for Tallon before the 2021 offseason. When the Panthers went to the Cup two years later, they had a completely new coaching staff, and the only guys remaining on the roster from the Tallon era were Barkov, Ekblad, and Bobrovsky. If you count prospects, then also Luostarinen and Knight. That's it.

 

[Tasteless Beaver]

Kevin Cheveldayoff for taking the reins for a team with few stars, few prospects, and a limited budget, in a city that most players don’t want to play in - and turning it into a consistent playoff appearance. Look at what he had to work with here. He essentially built a contender through the draft alone.

 

[Tawnos]

Kevin Cheveldayoff for taking the reins for a team with few stars, few prospects, and a limited budget, in a city that most players don’t want to play in - and turning it into a consistent playoff appearance. Look at what he had to work with here. He essentially built a contender through the draft alone.

He's a good example of someone who learned over time too. He spent the first part of his tenure being too cautious and conservative to the point of paralysis. He grew. Still somewhat cautious, but not immobile.

 

[Brew]

Time will tell, but what Mike Grier has done in San Jose has looked solid.

Potential franchise goalie and 1st line centre, solid drafting in Smith and Dickinson to name a few.

San Jose should be competitive I’d say in the next 3 years.

 

[dalewood12]

I feel like Dallas has a big Cup window, and with time, Jim Nill will be regarded as one of the best of his generation.

 

[barkovcanfinnish]

Bill Zito is his name

 

[Brodeur]

It was bumpy to start, but the Kings hired Dean Lombardi in spring 2006 and they gradually improved to get Cups in 2012 and 2014.

 

[Stive Morgan]

Bill Zito is the obvious pick, but I always liked Brian Burke with the Vancouver Canucks.

Started with a 25 win team, got them back to being a consistent playoff team in 2 seasons. Got the Sedins and Kesler. Only thing missing is a Cup really.

 

[IWantSakicAsMyGM]

When Sakic took over as the Avs GM, they had made the playoffs 3 times in the previous decade. PA Parenteau was tied with Duchene as their leading scorer the previous year. Matt Hunwick was on the first defensive pairing with Tyson Barrie. Greg Zanon was playing 19 minutes a night on the second pair. They finished with 39 points over the 48 game season, 2nd fewest in the NHL.

Over the next 8 years, he drafted MacKinnon, Rantanen, and Makar. Cleaned up Lacroix's mess and traded ROR. Traded Duchene for a haul. Traded for Kadri, Toews, Burakovsky, Lehk, etc. Signed Nuke when Dallas didn't qualify him. The team he built went 20-4 in the playoffs and won the Cup, and could have potentially gotten one or two more if not for some unfortunate injuries and Nuke getting suspended. And that window isn't closed yet.

 

[eojsmada]

Shocking that no one has mentioned Yzerman.


Would definitely say Zito, currently. Even though Yzerman does deserve his flowers.

 

[DingDongCharlie]

Easily Zito for me.

 

[Based Anime Fan]

Historically, it's Lou Lamiorello and the Devils.

No coincidence that his first season was the first year they made the playoffs. From there, he built a team that, love them or not, was in the top of the NHL for almost 30 years.

 

[Star Platinum]

Time will tell, but what Mike Grier has done in San Jose has looked solid.

Potential franchise goalie and 1st line centre, solid drafting in Smith and Dickinson to name a few.

San Jose should be competitive I’d say in the next 3 years.

It's too soon to tell and I say that as a Sharks fan. Encouraging so far, but we're still the worst team in the league.

 

[kaiser matias]

Pat Quinn with the Canucks.

 

[castle]

The team he built went 20-4 in the playoffs and won the Cup, and could have potentially gotten one or two more if not for some unfortunate injuries and Nuke getting suspended. And that window isn't closed yet.

20-4? Is this some voodoo?