Speculation: Who should be the new GM of the Washington Capitals?

[Chukcha]

Nick Kypreos ‏@RealKyper · 20m
Wouldn't surprise me at all to see Bylsma and Shero both end up with @washcaps. #NHL #carousel

McPhee and Oates to PIT, Shero and Bylsma to DC. Let's heat up the rivalry.

 

[stanleycaps18]

Not psyched about all of this. Still would prefer Benning/Trotz, but meh, as long as Torts is far, far away, then I guess it is all good.

Agree that keeping Mahoney is a top priority.

 

[SlappaDaBass]

http://www.wpxi.com/videos/news/wpxi-live-news/vsQ2Z/

if you want to watch the coverage

 

[Langway]

Since Shero reportedly went to bat for Bylsma last summer--when their ownership considered making a change--and doing so eventually got him fired I'm not sure it's a lock that Shero would hire Bylsma.

And, anyway, apparently Bylsma has not been fired. It will be the next GM's call.

 

[Marshall]

Telling that we're hearing about possible candidates from national media types, though much of it is admittedly speculation. The local media? Outside of Starkey, they seem asleep at the wheel. The Caps have them well-tamed.

 

[strungout]

These media guys asking questions like "Who would you consider untouchable?"

Idiots.

 

[Blades Ov Steel]

So Fenton / Trotz or Shero / Trotz.. get it done.

 

[itsjustsurvival]

Don't know what to think or feel.

Just glad Oates is gone.


Edit:

Wonder what Shero+Mahoney draft would be like.

 

[Blades Ov Steel]

Don't know what to think or feel.

Just glad Oates is gone.

true..

 

[Atlas]

Was is Shero who drafted Staal over Toews?

The goalie position hasn't been great during Shero's tenure.

I hate Pittsburgh so much that I can't think about it clearly.

 

[Ridley Simon]

By that same token the Penguins were only better than the Capitals because Crosby and Malkin are flat out better players than Ovechkin and Backstrom. Is that Mcphee's fault?

thats simply not true. Have you looked at the defenses the 2 teams have fielded since 2009?

 

[Langway]

With Bylsma not yet fired all the more reason to pick up the pace and beat PIT to the punch on both fronts. If Shero can lure Trotz into the fold then go for it.

 

[Ridley Simon]

And the Caps could have just as easily won the Cup that same year had they not **** the bed against the Pens in game 7.

Since then, they've had seriously good teams, been at the top of the league during the regular season, been expected to win the Cup in several of them and they've completely crashed and burned in each of them.

And its not been about losing, its about how they've lost. Been up in series and then crapping the bed. Been blown out in series they should have won. Had a ton of good players that then seemed not to gel and do what they should have.

Sound familiar? Its like Caps v2.0.

There is a reason that a team with, arguably, the two best players in the world are FIRING him.

If he couldnt make that team work and put a winning team around the two best players, what makes you think he can do it here?

most of that is on coaching. Should Shero have dumped Bylsma earlier? Yes. We had a GM that notoriously hung on to coaches too long, so its not like its an anamoly. Shero WON the cup. Caps didnt. To speculate that they may have in 2009 is so stupid, I dont know what to say. If the Caps had won that Cup, so much would be different around here....so stop with that portion of your argument.

Shero is a good GM. Sure, he had stars. So did George. Who went further, more consistently??

 

[strungout]

With Bylsma not yet fired all the more reason to pick up the pace and beat PIT to the punch on both fronts. If Shero can lure Trotz into the fold then go for it.

This has a chance to be really good....or really bad.

 

[Hivemind]

I don't get the argument of Mcphees draft picks 1000+ vs Sheros 200+.. So many factors can be looked at into that, and lets not forget who has won a cup and had a competitive team for years.. AND made moves that matter at the dead lines.

How much of this "poor" drafting is really on Shero instead of the scouts?

It's not about how much better McPhee's total is so much as it about how abysmal 240 games played is. Shero has lead their draft since 2006. The Penguins have over 13,000 regular season man games played since that point. Those 240 GP represent less than 2% of the GP by the Penguins under Shero's tenure. In other words, more than 98% of Shero's team was drafted by someone else (his predecessor or otherwise).

You need useful players on ELCs or bridge contracts in order to field a deep team, especially when you have costly stars (like in both Pittsburgh and Washington). The Penguins bottom six has been abysmal in recent years, in large part because of Shero's inability to draft.

Shero's contact in Pittsburgh included a clause that he had the final say on all hockey ops matters. Whether or not that included the scouting budget or hiring is not certain. But the fact that Shero was unwilling or unable to convince ownership to improve the amateur scouting department is certainly a black eye against Shero (in addition to any direction or assigments he passed to the amateur scouting department). Whether by assignment or final draft call, Shero also steers completely against Mahoney's tendencies in the draft. Shero never goes towards European groomed talent, especially in the early rounds (Maatta played in the OHL).

 

[Ovechkins Wodka]

gonna make HBOs 24/7 road to the winter classic pretty good this year

 

[jsykes]

Deny it all you want....but he had a part of that. The Caps never got out of the 2nd round.

Ill take my chances with that guy in that pile there somewhere.

Explain then why he's so good.

Explain why he's so good and the right fit for the Caps even though his teams continue to crash in the playoffs with the two best players in the league and how he'd be such an improvement over GMGM.

By your reasoning, why not Feaster? He's been just as successful as Shero.

Under Feaster's management, the Lightning won consecutive Southeast Division titles in 2003 and 2004. In the 2003–04 NHL season, the Lightning won the first Stanley Cup in franchise history while The Sporting News named Feaster as the league's executive of the year.

 

[ChaosLord]

Was is Shero who drafted Staal over Toews?

The goalie position hasn't been great during Shero's tenure.

I hate Pittsburgh so much that I can't think about it clearly.

Shero also passed on Filip Forseberg a couple of years ago -- the Pens were drafting before the Caps. I too am not crazy about Shero. Other than having Crosby and Malkin fall into his lap, what has he done?

 

[caps4cup]

Shero has built team's good enough to win a Cup. The year after they won it, they got Halak'd. The next year Malkin and Crosby were injured. The following year was the Philly debacle; good job MAF. Then they lost in the ECF. And then they lost in game 7 in the ECSF.

Even this season MAF was terrible and they should have made it to the ECF. Their best player, the best player in the world took an early vacation.

He has built teams good enough to win while having 2 superstars take up a lot of the cap as well as having an awful goalie that was probably difficult to trade. He knows how to add pieces around his core. The recent Iginla, Kunitz, Neal, Niskanen, Martin, Scuderi, Goc, Sutter, and even Guerin acquisitions show.

My point is the Caps have a pretty good core and a much better goalie than the Pens...

xxx-Backstrom-Ovechkin
Kuznetsov-xxx-Brouwer
Chimera-Johansson-Ward
Brown-Latta-Wilson

xxx-Green
Alzner-Carlson
Orlov-xxx

I feel like Shero is a good GM to have fill these holes. That's just my opinion.

Also it would be awesome to watch Pens fans reactions if Shero can take this team the ECF or further, and we take the coach they all want (Trotz).

 

[caps4cup]

Shero also passed on Filip Forseberg a couple of years ago -- the Pens were drafting before the Caps. I too am not crazy about Shero. Other than having Crosby and Malkin fall into his lap, what has he done?

Yep but our GM also did trade FF who doesn't look like he's going to be as good as we thought. And he wound up drafting Maatta later who was a complete steal...Also wouldn't drafting still be on Mahoney?

 

[John Price]

Yeah we have good scouts here to feed info to the gm. As someone else said it's not all Shero fault pens drafted poorly. Maybe they have bad scouts.

 

[Ridley Simon]

Explain then why he's so good.

Explain why he's so good and the right fit for the Caps even though his teams continue to crash in the playoffs with the two best players in the league and how he'd be such an improvement over GMGM.

By your reasoning, why not Feaster? He's been just as successful as Shero.

He address teams needs (defense), he uses the draft, he trades when necessary, and he understands how to leverage free agency. His teams were never hamstrung by the Cap, and he went further in the playoffs than the Caps did rountinely.

Oh, and he won a cup. If we are able to keep Mahoney to draft...then this is a huge win for DC.

Put it this way...what GM candidate out there has done more over the past 6 years?

 

[RockDaRed]

what if Caps and Pitt basically switched GMs? LOL

 

[jsykes]

most of that is on coaching. Should Shero have dumped Bylsma earlier? Yes. We had a GM that notoriously hung on to coaches too long, so its not like its an anamoly.

And so we admit he didnt do things right?

Shero WON the cup. Caps didnt. To speculate that they may have in 2009 is so stupid, I dont know what to say. If the Caps had won that Cup, so much would be different around here....so stop with that portion of your argument.

But did he really? He had only been their two years before the Cup year. Did he really build that team and win the Cup or was it Bylsma that came in and turned the team around and took them that far? Maybe he did, but what has he done since?

The Caps comparison is just as you say, it could have been completely different histories with a single game 7. How is that indicative of how good Shero is?

Shero is a good GM. Sure, he had stars. So did George. Who went further, more consistently??

Is he really a good GM? If so, why is he being fired?

Why is the entire hockey community discussing how bad the Pens have been built for the last few days since they lost? Why are they all saying that this team should have won 2 or 3 cups in the time since their last one? How come they're saying its not that they havent won the Cup, but its how they've blown it and that is due to the way the team is built?

Everyone is saying that the Pens have been a failure in these last few years and its why Pitt is making the change.

I do realize good GMs do lose jobs, but I see Shero under the Pens as a direct comparison to GMGM and the Caps and the underachievement of both teams. In the presser, they mentioned its not just this season, but cited 5 consecutive years of underachieving as a reason they're making the change.

I do not see him as a positive move for this team right now nor a great GM at building a team around certain players, which is what this teams needs right now.

 

[strungout]

Explain then why he's so good.

Explain why he's so good and the right fit for the Caps even though his teams continue to crash in the playoffs with the two best players in the league and how he'd be such an improvement over GMGM.

By your reasoning, why not Feaster? He's been just as successful as Shero.

Before we go any further...I never said he was an improvement over McPhee. Lets get that straight right off the bat.

At this point...there are how many decent candidates?

You bring up Feaster. Why not Feaster? I'm not sold on him being what he used to be...but he does have a resume worth looking at. His time in Calgary and the abysmal trades he made seem to point to him not being nearly as on his game as he used to be. He won a cup...so you cant just throw that to the side. Would he be my choice based on recent history. No.

Rutherford appears to still want to GM...I'd be open to that. Maybe.

Benning and Fenton are GM's in the waiting....but no GM experience? You ready to go that route with this team? I'm not so sure. I like the idea of a new face coming in and doing things the way that needs to be done to improve the team...but a guy with no GM experience trying to get a team to the Cup? It works sometimes...sometimes it doesnt. Id be fine with either of these guys really.

As for Shero...hes good because he doesn't sit on his hands. He traded Staal. He traded for Guerin (when he was a guy the Caps absolutely should have picked up), traded for Hossa and Dupis. Gill. James Neal and Niskanen for Goligoski. Kunitz for Whitney. He moves **** around to make more **** happen. Yeah, the last few seasons they havent won the cup....but they have been sure as **** competitive. (Crosby hasnt been the same since the concussions...not saying thats the full reason they havent won it all...but its a factor).

I see a guy that has been and can be a legitimate GM in the NHL...and the Caps not with one at the moment. Give me a better candidate and we can compare notes.