Which GM hire was most damaging for their team?

[banks]

I don't disagree, but how are you so certain that Burke would have drafted Gibson/Rakell?

Ya, that question is valid. But that same question could be asked for any trade in history involving draft picks. And I did intentionally phrase it so as not to suggest Burke would have drafted those two.

But how about saying it this way. Burke and company identified Biggs as a target so much that they traded up for him. Biggs went on to play zero games in the NHL. Their evaluation was (obviously) wildly flawed.

Even if we assume they might have passed on the exact same player taken with the picks they moved, here's the number of games played by the next 5 players taken after each pick: Rakell's pick was followed by players who played 4, 99, 203, 519, and 221 games. Gibson was followed by players who played 9, 315, 506, 910, 335 and games.

Hundreds of games played by most of the options available with those picks. But they went out of their way to pay for one of the few guys who couldn't crack a lineup even once. The drafting under Burke was worse than abysmal.

 

[Deep Blue Metallic]

Kevyn Adams has managed to add 5 years of missing the playoffs, to bring the streak to 15 years.

The posers mentioned itt need to bow their heads in the presence of true ineptitude.

 

[BFLO]

Mike Milbury and it's not remotely close.

Have you seen Kevyn Adam's list? And keep in mind that Adam's is still employed and will likely be adding to the list some more.

 

[Quinning]

Benning left a trail of utter disaster in his wake. Set the franchise back at least five years.

 

[Quinning]

Benning and it isn't particularly close.

This

 

[MOGlLNY]

Tim Murray created an all star lineup. Eichel Reinhart O'Reilly, Kane, Montour etc. He sold the farm sure; I would take him in a heartbeat to move Sabres assets.

Kevyn Adams for ineptitude is high on this list.

Murray didn’t trade for Montour. He also acquired a bunch of kids and guys who to say the least weren’t all there. That team was majorly toxic and that’s part of being a GM.

 

[Bjornar Moxnes]

This is the most insane thread. Wow.

Especially EDM fans. Your team is 1st in the Pacific +30 goal differential. What the hell? You went to game 7 last year and you'll go deep again this year. There's no reason to panic.

I think it's the fact Edmonton probably would Have at least a cup if management was more competent or be even better set for the future. If the Oilers still had Holloway, Broberg, and Kesslering along with Savoie and O'Reilly in the pipelines, they'd constantly be getting youth value to complement their star players.

Except for Fletcher and Conroy (too soon), each of the 7 Flames GMs have done their best to monumentally destroy the team in their final stages with the organization.

Special mention goes to Button, Feaster, and Treliving. Utter buffoons. At least Sutter and Burke had somewhat of a vision

Unpopular opinion but I think Treliving still did more good than bad. Great at rfa contracts, most trades, and drafting. His flaw was definitely being awful in ufa contracts.

 

[Ianturnedbull]

I think it's the fact Edmonton probably would Have at least a cup if management was more competent or be even better set for the future. If the Oilers still had Holloway, Broberg, and Kesslering along with Savoie and O'Reilly in the pipelines, they'd constantly be getting youth value to complement their star players.

Your criticism spands past, present, and future GMs. As you can see with several teams, the best players don't always find their way to a Stanley Cup victory. I think EDM still has a window.

 

[Digital Kid]

Except for Fletcher and Conroy (too soon), each of the 7 Flames GMs have done their best to monumentally destroy the team in their final stages with the organization.

Special mention goes to Button, Feaster, and Treliving. Utter buffoons. At least Sutter and Burke had somewhat of a vision

I refuse to have Craig Button on this list. Button created most of the lineup that Darryl Sutter took to the Stanley Cup final Game 7 in 2004.

 

[Stive Morgan]

Marc Bergevin for Montreal

Summer of 2017 was an absolute disaster for him.

Lets his 2nd-best forward and best defenseman, both beloved by fans, walk as free agents because he's a cheap bitch.

Then he signs Gallagher to that sentimental $6.5Mx6 for saving his job in 2021...

 

[Jumptheshark]

The Oilers hat trick of Chiarelli, Holland, and now Stan Bowman has done immeasurable damage. They would have at least one Cup by now if the team was properly run, but here we are in Year 10 of Connor McDavid wondering if John Klingberg’s bionic hips and a goalie with a .902 save percentage are the solutions on defence and in goal. Just complete idiocy from a group of has beens every season.

took only 2 posts to name several oiler gms

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

For montreal, it probably unfair to lay this on the GM, because he might have been a puppet, and economics were bad at the time, but rejean houle saw tremendous damage from 95 to about 2000.

The hiring of Mario tremblay alienated some players including Roy, who they traded quickly after the incident. It almost felt like a panic move to get rid of the circus as soon as possible rather than trying to make a calculated deal.

The turgeon deal was a disaster too.

It was just a bad time. Their new arena was funded all with private money, and the dollar was sinking at the same time while salaries were skyrocketing. The habs were selling their main talents like recchi and damphousse for cheaper and younger talent.

You also didn’t like that trade? I hated every second Muller was on the Isles.

 

[dre2112]

For montreal, it probably unfair to lay this on the GM, because he might have been a puppet, and economics were bad at the time, but rejean houle saw tremendous damage from 95 to about 2000.

The hiring of Mario tremblay alienated some players including Roy, who they traded quickly after the incident. It almost felt like a panic move to get rid of the circus as soon as possible rather than trying to make a calculated deal.

The turgeon deal was a disaster too.

It was just a bad time. Their new arena was funded all with private money, and the dollar was sinking at the same time while salaries were skyrocketing. The habs were selling their main talents like recchi and damphousse for cheaper and younger talent.

More like Houle set the Habs back like 15-20 years.

 

[Rebels57]

Mike Milbury for the Isles
Chiarelli for the Oilers
Chuck Fletcher for the Flyers

 

[Darren McCord]

Ron Hextall has ruined both Pennsylvania franchises and I cannot do enough to thank him for it

I dont think there is a more mid GM than Hexy. Dude will never get another GM job which is saying something in a league that constantly recycles. I truly believe his goal is to draft forever, just squeak into the playoffs and constantly get picks between 15-20

 

[Diablo2020]

I’m going to preemptively say that it was not Jim Benning.

As terrible as he was for the Canucks—I think a lot of his decision making was influenced by owner Francesco Aquilini interfering with hockey operations.

Either trying to rush the rebuild (Eriksson, Beagle, Sutter, OEL, etc) or not allowing the team to spend when they needed to (the disastrous post-bubble off-season, or the general lack in investment in hockey ops that led to them running out of time a lot).

That’s not to say that Benning wasn’t out of his element—but it is to say that things were made so much worse by ownership.

Generally for any other GM listed in this thread, I think ownership is an important consideration to evaluate their performance by.

I vividly remember, maybe %75 of the way thru Bennings tenure, someone on the Canucks board did the math.

Now albeit the salaries were starting to skyrocket and most tanking teams didnt spend to the absolute cap (we did every year of Benning except Covid)..

Even with his first year and his 48 wins...

He spent the most CASH, by a country mile (like close to double), to win about the 5th most games of all NHL clubs over his first 6 years.

The dude burned about 400-500 million dollars of Aquilini's cash to win one playoff round.

Most damaging to a team, probably not Benning.

Most damaging to an owners pocketbook, Benning by a country MILE.

And the OEL trade is still giving...

 

[Oddbob]

This really is Mike Milbury's area. He was brutal.

 

[JianYang]

You also didn’t like that trade? I hated every second Muller was on the Isles.

I meant the trade to st louis. The deal to bring him in was done by a predecessor GM.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

I meant the trade to st louis. The deal to bring him in was done by a predecessor GM.

Oh, ok. I was also unhappy with my team trading away Turgeon. I’ll go look up to see what you got for him.

Edit: ouch! Shane Corson. Can’t be happy with that return.

 

[JianYang]

Oh, ok. I was also unhappy with my team trading away Turgeon. I’ll go look up to see what you got for him.

I'll spare you the trouble.

It was corson, Baron, and a draft pick

 

[vadim sharifijanov]

Yup. On a national broadcast a few years back Ray Ferraro said EJ came into the locker room shortly after getting the job and told them he was building a cup winner, "unfortunately he left out it was Pittsburgh!"

this was just just a stunning, franchise-destroying year

and cullen, zalapski, and brown were eddie johnston’s own guys from pittsburgh so it must have been an inside job

(the babych trade listed there is a mistake, it actually happened in the 80s. the actual babych transaction that summer was losing him in the expansion draft, and then minnesota flipping him to vancouver.)

 

[Dickie Dunn]

He’s not the right answer but I just wanted to take a moment to bitch about Doug Risebrough. His desire to build a competitive, balanced roster from day one sent the Wild on the “stuck in the middle” path that they are still on a generation later.

 

[JianYang]

Oh, ok. I was also unhappy with my team trading away Turgeon. I’ll go look up to see what you got for him.

Edit: ouch! Shane Corson. Can’t be happy with that return.

Actually, it gets worse. Montreal also traded conroy in that deal.

 

[Crazy Cizikas]

Actually, it gets worse. Montreal also traded conroy in that deal.

And future all-Star fan vote-getter Rory Fitzpatrick.

 

[eviohh26]

Chia in Edmonton is one of the worst in recent times. They could have easily had a dynasty over there.
Benning was also dog shit.