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My Top 10 GMs in the NHL

Created by: AndrewLadd
Team: 2019-20 Custom Team
Initial Creation Date: May 22, 2020
Published: May 22, 2020
Salary Cap Mode: Basic
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If you have any different opinions or anyone you think I forgot let me know!
Honorable mentions are Jarmo, Dorian, Fletcher and Chevy

Sakic- he is the best GM in the NHL right now. He’s smart, has just the right amount of patience, drafts well and is a great contract negotiator.
Yzerman- even though his first year in Detroit was terrible, it wasn’t really his fault. He stole Fabbri and Seider looks like a great pick. This, with all of his success in Tampa, makes him the NHL’s 2nd best GM.
Sweeney- Sweeney might be the best contract negotiatior in the league. Almost every contract he has signed has benefited the Bruins (besides Backes) and has drafted pretty well (besides the 2015 draft lol.) He’s built the Bruins into a force to be reckoned with.
Armstrong- The O’Reilly trade was an absolute steal. He manages the cap quite well, which makes me think he can keep Petro. He recently won a cup, and that was thanks to the formerly mentioned O’Reilly trade and the underrated signing of David Perron.
Jim Rutherford- He’s the GM every person on capfriendly thinks they would be. Whenever there is a problem, he makes a trade right away to try to fix it. I respect his aggression, and it’s worked out for him. He has his faults, but so does every GM. Also, he hands out pretty decent contracts (besides JJ.)
Jeff Gorton- the stinky Rangers rebuild is going so well because of this guy. He’s recently drafted really well IMO, and he knows how to gain assets for a rebuild like no other. Also, bringing Panarin was great for the Rangers. The trade for Zibby was an absolute steal. Also, how about his interm GM run with the Bruins, where he drafted Kessel, Marchand, trades for Rask and signed Zdeno Chára in FA.
David Poile- he’s the longest tenured NHL GM for a reason. The only GM of the Predators has made trades well, hired some very solid coaches in his career and drafts dmen in later rounds like no other.
Don Waddell- Waddell reminds me of Jim Rutherford, except when there is a problem, no matter what the problem is, he acquires a dman. He has helped build one of the best blue lines in the league and has also helped build a very underrated prospect pool. The Nino Trade was a steal, and the Reimer trade is looking good too. Not to mention hiring Brind’Amour as coach was a great move.
Lou Lamiorello- he’s lost his touch, but what he did with the Devils was pretty amazing. His tenure as Leafs GM was great too, drafting Matthews, Marner, Nylander and Rielly. His isles tenure has been highlighted by the great signing of Lehner, hiring Trotz and trading for Pageau (which I think was a good move.) His ability to get top tier coaches working for him in not so great situations is very underrated too.
Brian MacLellan- he has built the caps very well. He made them cup contenders for years to come. The only problem with him is the contracts he has signed. I don’t like the Oshie and Backstrom contracts which lowers him a bit.
ROSTER SIZESALARY CAPCAP HITOVERAGES TooltipBONUSESCAP SPACE
10$81,500,000$10,000,000$0$0$71,500,000
Left WingCentreRight Wing
Sakic, Joe
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Yzerman, Steve
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Sweeney, Don
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Armstrong, Doug
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Rutherford, Jim
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Gorton, Jeff
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Poile, David
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Waddell, Don
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Lamiorello, Lou
$1,000,000$1,000,000
MacLellan, Brian
$1,000,000$1,000,000
Left DefenseRight DefenseGoaltender

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May 22, 2020 at 11:31 a.m.
#1
Connor
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Holland should be on there for me at least from this year. Neal for lucic was a steal, the ennis and green trades cost pretty much nothing, AA was a good pickup, and he basically solved almost all of the oilers' problems (wingers, depth, defense kind of improved, goaltending was good) the only bad move he did was the kassian deal was too long but he should be top ten for this year, but it's understandable if it isn't solely based on this season
May 22, 2020 at 11:32 a.m.
#2
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MacLellan wasn't the GM when Forsberg was traded.
May 22, 2020 at 11:32 a.m.
#3
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Bo Horvat enjoyer
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Quoting: ClockReads2113
MacLellan wasn't the GM when Forsberg was traded.


Oh didn’t know that, thank you
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May 22, 2020 at 11:35 a.m.
#4
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Bo Horvat enjoyer
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Quoting: hockeyconnor97
Holland should be on there for me at least from this year. Neal for lucic was a steal, the ennis and green trades cost pretty much nothing, AA was a good pickup, and he basically solved almost all of the oilers' problems (wingers, depth, defense kind of improved, goaltending was good) the only bad move he did was the kassian deal was too long but he should be top ten for this year, but it's understandable if it isn't solely based on this season


It’s based off a combo of every year each GM has had. Recent success is definitely needed to be on my list tho. And while Holland has been great for the Oilers, the contracts he’s signed in Detroit keeps him off the list
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May 22, 2020 at 11:39 a.m.
#5
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Take JR away from UFA negotiations and he's great... JJ, Tanev, even Hornqvist... trades (other than turning the pick that became Barzal into a 2021 7th) he's great, and drafting , aside from first rounders, he's made a lot out of nothing, and he's gotten a ton of impactful UDFA's
May 22, 2020 at 11:40 a.m.
#6
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Lou gets so much credit for his time in TO that is completely undeserved. He drafted Matthews but Nylander and Marner were both drafted prior to his time there. It was Dubas and Mark Hunte handled those drafts. May have even been Nonis who drafted Nylander. Lou did however give Zaitsev his 7 year deal and gave Marleau 3 years at the age of 37. He since went to the Islanders where he lost Tavares to his replacement and has made several really poor long term moves. His best move in recent memory was landing Tortz, beyond that he's been not good.
May 22, 2020 at 11:42 a.m.
#7
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Quoting: hockeyconnor97
Holland should be on there for me at least from this year. Neal for lucic was a steal, the ennis and green trades cost pretty much nothing, AA was a good pickup, and he basically solved almost all of the oilers' problems (wingers, depth, defense kind of improved, goaltending was good) the only bad move he did was the kassian deal was too long but he should be top ten for this year, but it's understandable if it isn't solely based on this season


He didn't make any mistakes but I wouldn't say he's solved any problems. The team was 27th at 5v5. Come playoff time when the refs put away their whistles (which they always do) your #1 PP won't mean a lot.
May 22, 2020 at 11:44 a.m.
#8
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Lou didn't draft Rielly, Nylander, or Marner. He (along with Babcock) brought in a culture that was needed to turn the Leafs around, but his tenure as Leafs' GM was far from great.
May 22, 2020 at 11:45 a.m.
#9
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Bo Horvat enjoyer
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Quoting: PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood
Lou gets so much credit for his time in TO that is completely undeserved. He drafted Matthews but Nylander and Marner were both drafted prior to his time there. It was Dubas and Mark Hunte handled those drafts. May have even been Nonis who drafted Nylander. Lou did however give Zaitsev his 7 year deal and gave Marleau 3 years at the age of 37. He since went to the Islanders where he lost Tavares to his replacement and has made several really poor long term moves. His best move in recent memory was landing Tortz, beyond that he's been not good.


Forgot he didn’t draft Marner/Nylander. Losing JT wasn’t his fault imo, JT was always gonna leave. You’re probably right then he shouldn’t be on here. So I’d put Chuck Fletcher at 10 and move BM to 9
May 22, 2020 at 11:48 a.m.
#10
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Bo Horvat enjoyer
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Quoting: LeafsFanForSomeReason
Lou didn't draft Rielly, Nylander, or Marner. He (along with Babcock) brought in a culture that was needed to turn the Leafs around, but his tenure as Leafs' GM was far from great.

Check my comment above this one
May 22, 2020 at 11:48 a.m.
#11
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Dubas?????

Jkjk I don’t like the guy as a GM, bet he’s a great guy tho. They Shoulda made someone else the GM
May 22, 2020 at 11:51 a.m.
#12
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Quoting: AndrewLadd
Forgot he didn’t draft Marner/Nylander. Losing JT wasn’t his fault imo, JT was always gonna leave. You’re probably right then he shouldn’t be on here. So I’d put Chuck Fletcher at 10 and move BM to 9


Wasn't Fletcher behind the mess that is Minnesota?
May 22, 2020 at 11:53 a.m.
#13
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Quoting: PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood
Wasn't Fletcher behind the mess that is Minnesota?


Yes. There was an article in the athletic about the whole circus if I remember correctly.

Edit: No, my bad, it was Fenton
May 22, 2020 at 11:54 a.m.
#14
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Bo Horvat enjoyer
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Quoting: PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood
Wasn't Fletcher behind the mess that is Minnesota?


Paul Fenton is the one who made it a mess. Things weren’t that bad w Fletcher as GM
May 22, 2020 at 12:04 p.m.
#15
14m in dead cap
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Quoting: AndrewLadd
Paul Fenton is the one who made it a mess. Things weren’t that bad w Fletcher as GM


Fletcher made the trade for Hanzal, so there's that.

My assumption is this is active GMs only, because we all know Garth Snow would top your list for signing you to that steal of a contract.
May 22, 2020 at 12:07 p.m.
#16
14m in dead cap
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Quoting: PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood
Wasn't Fletcher behind the mess that is Minnesota?


He built the defense they have still, which is top notch. He traded for Dubnyk, which was a steal for the first couple years of his stint. He also got them into the 2nd round twice, which as a Leafs fan I know is a confusing concept but its what happens when your team wins 4 games in a 7 game series.
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May 22, 2020 at 12:31 p.m.
#17
Le patriote
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What no Marc Bergevin in the top 10 ... geez you are hard on him !!
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May 22, 2020 at 12:31 p.m.
#18
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Quoting: AndrewLadd
Paul Fenton is the one who made it a mess. Things weren’t that bad w Fletcher as GM


I think Fenton inherited a mess and had little choice in changing anything. Many of the terrible contracts in Minnesota are Fletcher's doing. This is a common theme where people get credit for stuff others did and get blamed for long term failures of others. Dubas for instance gets ripped for mistakes Lou made while Lou gets praise for setting up TO when he didn't really do anything, it was Hunter and Dubas that laid the ground work. Yzerman gets so much praise but you look at the number of NMC's in Tampa and massive contracts with term for secondary players. He drafted well but the number of 5+ million dollar middle 6 players that will be hard to move is going to cause a tonne of problems there. That along with the fact that they haven't won anything takes the luster of his record. He isn't bad but he certainly isn't the best.

I do think Sakic deserves a tonne of praise though, he doesn't panic and that is a tremendous quality. Waddell doesn't deserve to be on this list, he was setup by Francis and I don't think the Canes are in any better position than they were before he took over.
May 22, 2020 at 12:33 p.m.
#19
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Quoting: JayTea
He built the defense they have still, which is top notch. He traded for Dubnyk, which was a steal for the first couple years of his stint. He also got them into the 2nd round twice, which as a Leafs fan I know is a confusing concept but its what happens when your team wins 4 games in a 7 game series.


Okay, but their defence isn't overly that good anymore, they have a number of terrible contracts that are his doing and they didn't really win anything.
May 22, 2020 at 12:39 p.m.
#20
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Quoting: PleaseBanMeForMyOwnGood
Okay, but their defence isn't overly that good anymore, they have a number of terrible contracts that are his doing and they didn't really win anything.


Their defense isn't overly good anymore? Please elaborate.
May 22, 2020 at 12:46 p.m.
#21
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Quoting: JayTea
Their defense isn't overly good anymore? Please elaborate.


Suter is old, Dumba was a disaster last year and the team was just average this past season. Brodin is good but looks like he's going to be gone before too long. The team needs a rebuild but has a number of contracts that will need to be moved to start that. Suter and Parise are pretty much untradeable, unless you can get Lou to pull the trigger, he does like his old players. Fletcher set Fenton up to fail and he didn't do anything bold to fix it. Fenton reminds me of John Ferguson Jr, he was basically destined to fail, the team wasn't good enough and was aging but ownership demanded they need to fight for the playoffs. I am not saying Fenton was good at his job but he certainly shouldn't get all the blame for mistakes made by Fletcher.
May 22, 2020 at 12:49 p.m.
#22
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Its tough for me to really put the 2015 draft on Sweeney. He had only officially been named the GM of the Bruins a month earlier and only in the GM role for 2-months. Up until that point his focus was on Providence and player development. His only exposure to these kids were via tapes, the combine and interviews, which meant his scouts input was even more vital. Obviously we now know that they were going to package up the 3 picks and move up for Hanifin or Werenski, but the deal fell threw at the last minute. Good news is that draft didn't kill them and I'm still hopeful that Senyshyn becomes a solid middle-6 winger.
May 22, 2020 at 12:52 p.m.
#23
Rangers 2023
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Poile is off the list if he doesnt fix their offense
May 22, 2020 at 12:57 p.m.
#24
Go Jets Go
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Hard to argue with the list, some things could be moved around but not bad. Happy Chevy at least got a little recognition! I would have him in my top 10 but maybe there is a biased there wink
May 22, 2020 at 12:58 p.m.
#25
Bandwagon fairweathe
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Poile and Doug Wilson would be in the same category for me and neither would get into top ten in my book, I would add Chevy in the hole, simply on living and dieing on the draft and one blockbuster deal in his tenure. Top end ufas don’t usually give wpg much of a look, but has added a few b level free agents that have been relatively solid. Only problem has been the loyalty contracts of little, buffy and possibly Wheeler. Kinda got caught a little out to lunch, losing Myers, buffy, and chiarot all in the same year, but I think a year of pain may ultimate lead to paying in dividends with young guys getting a ton of minutes. In closing with the factors of wpg, I think he’s doing a damn fine job without a ufa safety net.
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