Speculation: Who would you actually want as the next GM?

[Chardo]

Garth.

 

[Isles72]

Ray Shero would feel like a safe place to start .

I'd imagine he'd at least hire some younger up and coming minds as advisors / AGM's

 

[periferal]

Art Staple at the Athletic asked this very question. There is no immediate answer to it other than it should be someone who has some experience in running a team. He cautioned against a rookie GM for this team. Right now the list of names is short.

Literally why? Why would you need a GM with experience running a team when the first thing that needs to happen is shipping off of multiple veterans to gain valuable picks/prospects and open up cap space?

Ken Holland is 69 years old and a name with some pedigree. He has recent NHL expertise. 3 Stanley Cups. At his age he falls into the I doubt he wants to still be doing this category.

Dean Lombardi is 66 and again might be done. He has a few cups but has not been a GM since the 2016-17 season. Is he still suited to today's game?

Doug Wilson is 67 and a former long time GM but has no championships.

George McPhee is 67 and has been out of the NHL since 2018-19.

Ray Shero was last GM in 2019-2020. He is 62 years old and has a cup.

Chuck Fletcher was last GM in 2022-23. He is 57. No championships.

No, no, no, no, no, and no. Aside from the fact I think most all of the guys on that list are overrated, we don't want anyone who's been out of the league for a while. We need someone who is 100% up on all that's going on as of today in the NHL as they need to hit the ground running.

I have no idea who the up-and-comers in the GM/President of hockey Ops field would be but as mentioned — from my perspective — do we want a rookie GM to untangle this mess?

Again why is everyone so afarid of a rookie GM? What matters is WHO is choosing the GM. There's a massive difference between an inept charles wang hiring an inept rookie GM in garth snow vs a good owner choosing the next great GM who has had front office experience.

Well wang is gone, so don't have PTSD over hiring a first time GM let us eliminate a pool of NHL executives where there is probably a really great candidate.

I do not believe they need a total rebuild. They need someone to go in smartly and carefully to make some tough moves. Trading nelson would be painful but necessary. Same with Palmieri. Trading a 1st round pick to salvage a sinking ship is stupid. My concern is LL will try to trade that pick for help now and another vet for pick/younger asset. We are too old and too slow as it is. Its 4th and 20 and they need to punt on this season. Retool on the fly and prep for next year with some youth and cap space.

People keep saying the Isles "don't need a total rebuild," but I've yet to hear a reasonable scenario where they can get a core group of these players back to Cup contention.

Think about it...An injection of talented youth is desperately needed on this roster. The Isles don't have a prospect pool, or CAP SPACE, to make deals where they could take on some 23 year old stud - Not that those guys get dealt that much if ever anyway. So there's almost no way for the Isles to get that talented/youth injection without going through the draft.

However the Isles aren't bad enough to get a top 3 pick where that player might play right away as an 18 year old. So even if we draft a top 10 prospect (and a few over multiple years), they're going to need time to develop. During that time our "core" will all be in their 30's - Certainly on the backside of their prime which is where you want them.

No more rookie GM's. Been there, done that with middling results.

Again...wang hiring snow is waaaay different than Malkin doing research and finding a quality assistant GM/front office exec who is deserving of the job.

Remember...BillTorrey was once a rookie GM. Are we going to eliminate the possibility of the next great NHL GM just because some idiot previous owners scarred us?

I sure how you're braver than that.

Not Roy, he's done nothing to prove he'd be an adequate GM for an NHL team

I do agree with that. Roy has got some of that "Milbury madness" to him. And it's not like he's doing a great job at his current position.

I don't know any people in particular, but someone that actually has GM experience, young enough to not be set in his/her ways and is current on the modern NHL, and not arrogant where he/she doesn't listen to other members of their staff.

Minus the fact that you mention someone needing "GM experience," it seems that everything else you want would point to a rookie GM.

Definitely not an easy position to succeed in or to fill with a qualified individual. I sincerely hope that Malkin has been on the hunt for a qualified person for a while now and is closing in on a person that can give this franchise a new direction, instill confidence in staff and players, and mostly, give the fans hope.

Yes - Praying Malkin has a list of names ready to go and has already planted the seeds that Lou is on his way out.

To run this thing back in 25-26 with Lou running the show would be very scary because it would show that Malkin really doesn't have his finger on the pulse.

What Malkin really needs is to find a great NHL Team President - Let that guy run everything including hiring the next GM. Unfortunately Lou holds all those titles now so he doesn't have to listen to anyone, and obviously isn't because he not only thinks he knows best, but we can see by the results that outside input is needed.

Jeff Gorton is an interesting name, would he leave Montreal to be the man in charge? I would think so.

Montreal has done nothing since Gorton has takent over and are a total disappointment. Despite injecting lots of youth that group is showing basically no signs of development. And St. Louis looks like a failuer as coach. Just not sure what you're seeing that would make you think he's a good president/GM.

 

[The Real JT]

Josh Ho Sang

If he says no, there’s always Ryan Pilon.

 

[Isles Junkie]

Eric Fichaud

He was always our future.