[News] Front Office Shake-up in Florida

[saillias]

http://www.miamiherald.com/sports/nh...e77399697.html

Assistant coach John Madden and Director of Hockey Ops Mike Dixon have been fired.

Earlier in the week they promoted Tallon to President of Hockey Ops and put Tom Rowe in the GM chair.

[loob job]

Heard they are firing almost everyone except Gallant, even trainers and equip guys being looked at.

[CMPunk]

Yikes, when you fire the equipment guys, you know something weird is going on there.

[Locke]

John Madden. Theres your problem. Too much Turducken.

[3rd line Grinder]

This year was their first moderately successful season in how long? Seems like a weird time for a shake up

[loob job]

I think Madden was inherited by Gallant, maybe they didn't see eye to eye and Gallant wants to bring in his own guys.

[saillias]

Originally Posted by 3rd line Grinder

This year was their first moderately successful season in how long? Seems like a weird time for a shake up

True. Yet they have had four top-4 picks in the past six years. And no playoff series wins like ever?

I've been saying for years Tallon should be fired. The NHL culture tolerates the old boys club way too long.

[Roof-Daddy]

Weird. They go from drafting 1st overall to winning their division in two seasons, all with a limited internal budget, and now they are cleaning house?

Crazy.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by saillias

True. Yet they have had four top-4 picks in the past six years. And no playoff series wins like ever?

I've been saying for years Tallon should be fired. The NHL culture tolerates the old boys club way too long.

Hes the one that turned the ship around and got them this far.

[saillias]

This far is nowhere though. They are an average team. Average results get way too much praise. This happens all the time in normal business yet in hockey the average guys are untouchable hockey savants. I don't get it.

[Roof-Daddy]

Originally Posted by saillias

This far is nowhere though. They are an average team. Average results get way too much praise. This happens all the time in normal business yet in hockey the average guys are untouchable hockey savants. I don't get it.

I'd argue that 7th overall over an 82 game season is above average, and it's not like they've been hovering at that level for years. As mentioned they've built from 30th to 7th in just two seasons and have assembled arguably the best young core in all of hockey.

[liamenator]

Controversies, weird shake-ups and outright power struggles seem to follow Tallon around. I wonder why that is (serious question).

Has Tom Rowe been a GM at any level? Seems a pretty quick rise through the management ranks for a career coach who's always been on the margins.

[JJ1532]

They kept this pretty quiet didn't they? Usually when a GM changes, its pretty big news. Although how much power is Tom Rowe going to have with Tallon as POHO? You'd imagine it'll be Tallon still running things.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Locke

Hes the one that turned the ship around and got them this far.

Really if you look at Tallon's body of work he's good at running teams into the ground to the point where he accumulates enough sure fire top 5 draft picks they eventually start turning around but the Hawks were smart to fire him once the team became a winner/contender. Sounds like the Panthers also wanted to move him out to let someone transition the team from the rebuilding stages. IMO he's a terrible GM.

[JBR]

Originally Posted by CMPunk

Yikes, when you fire the equipment guys, you know something weird is going on there.

NHL equipment manager in Florida. A nice gig, except I imagine the pay isn't overwhelming.

[CMPunk]

Originally Posted by JBR

NHL equipment manager in Florida. A nice gig, except I imagine the pay isn't overwhelming.

Depends, some teams pay more. I know the Flames weren't paying much, but you made up for it with your per diem, team paid meals and bonuses from the players.

[Geeoff]

"Usually the team that scores the most points wins the game!" -John Madden

[Buff]

Originally Posted by Erick Estrada

Really if you look at Tallon's body of work he's good at running teams into the ground to the point where he accumulates enough sure fire top 5 draft picks they eventually start turning around but the Hawks were smart to fire him once the team became a winner/contender. Sounds like the Panthers also wanted to move him out to let someone transition the team from the rebuilding stages. IMO he's a terrible GM.

I looked at his body of work. He took over as GM for the Hawks and built them into a conference finalist from a bottom dwellar. Was demoted due to a clerical error. Then he came to Florida and turned the team around.

[Erick Estrada]

Originally Posted by Buff

I looked at his body of work. He took over as GM for the Hawks and built them into a conference finalist from a bottom dwellar. Was demoted due to a clerical error. Then he came to Florida and turned the team around.

Look deeper. He's fine in the drafting aspect but his moves in free agency have been generally terrible. His first big moves as GM was to overpay Khabibulin, Aucoin, Lapoint to horrible deals. He followed that with that horrible deal for Brian Campbell. The Hossa contract isn't terrible but it's not great as he has a cap hit of $5.275 until 2021. That horrendous Dave Bolland contract is classic Tallon. He strikes out on a lot of his signings and trades and while he got lucky with Jagr for every move like that there's the trades for Hudler and Purcell. I don't consider the Panthers a team that's been completely built nor do I think they are a great team for that matter as they are a mishmash of veteran players and young players that will probably take a step back next season so moving Tallon out of the GM chair was definitely the right move as he got the organization the good young players and they need a good GM to make the moves to further build that team. At the end of the day IMO he's one of the worst GM's in the league.

[Frequitude]

I agree with everything but the Hossa contract. Sure it might be a bit of an anchor at the end, but Hossa at $5.75 was hugely important value during their prime run over the past 5 years. Beyond worth it in my opinion.