[News] Nill, Rutherford, and MacLellan are finalists for GM of the Year

[sureLoss]

Stephen Whyno @SWhyno
#Caps' Brian MacLellan, #Stars' Jim Nill and #Pens' Jim Rutherford are finalists for GM of the year.

[GreenLantern2814]

Put me in the crowd who didn't know which team MacLellan was the GM of.

[JJ1532]

Suppose Rutherford deserves this award. Picking up Kessel, Bonino, Daley, Hagelin and Schultz for what he gave up look like pretty shrewd moves right now.

Not sure why Nill is getting a nomination, a number of his moves look questionable at best. The Neimi signing and the Russell trade look downright terrible and questionable respectively. The Sharp/Johns for Garbutt/Daley trade was a reasonable one I suppose.

What did MacLellan do? The Justin Williams signing and Oshie trade were decent enough, but what else?

I'd give it to Rutherford, every move he's made over the last 9-10 months has seemingly come up roses.

[sharkov]

To think Rutherford would make this list 6 months ago would be considered bonkers

[sureLoss]

Originally Posted by JJ1532

Suppose Rutherford deserves this award. Picking up Kessel, Bonino, Daley, Hagelin and Schultz for what he gave up look like pretty shrewd moves right now.

Not sure why Nill is getting a nomination, a number of his moves look questionable at best. The Neimi signing and the Russell trade look downright terrible and questionable respectively. The Sharp/Johns for Garbutt/Daley trade was a reasonable one I suppose.

What did MacLellan do? The Justin Williams signing and Oshie trade were decent enough, but what else?

I'd give it to Rutherford, every move he's made over the last 9-10 months has seemingly come up roses.

This perspective of evaluating the moves depends on when the voting for this award was submitted.

The player awards voted by the PWHA were submitted at the end of the regular season.

Not sure when the 30 GMs, 5 NHL execs, and 5 media members voted on this one, but if it was at the end of the season like the other awards, it would have been difficult to evaluate how moves payed off in the playoffs.

[Strange Brew]

It would be simply amazing if Rutherford wins this based on how people viewed him not that long ago.

There is a point in there somewhere. If you have 2 or 3 truly elite players you can continually tinker with the team in the hopes of finding gold.

[Vinny01]

Voted Nill but should have voted for Rutherford. A lot of what made the Stsrs successful were moves Nill made in years previous. Also Niemi is looking like a bit of a dud signing so while Sharp and Oduya were good moves Russell as well) I think Rutherford made better moves. Replacing the coach, trading for Kessel and Bonino in the offseason and Hagelin and Daley during th season turned Pitt from a bubble team to contender

[Huntingwhale]

Originally Posted by sharkov

To think Rutherford would make this list 6 months ago would be considered bonkers

Too true. Those people who wanted him gone last season are now singing his praises. Just goes to show you should never follow the circle jerk that goes around the hockey world.

[bubbsy]

the timing of these nominations are always intriguing.

Is the reward based on the acheivements in the regular season in isolation, if so, release them at the end of the season so that the playoffs don't skew the judgement?

if they are to include the playoffs, then they should released after the end of the finals.

[CliffFletcher]

GM of the year is a weird one. We all know about the trades, but that's only a part - and not even the biggest part - of a GM's job. There's scouting, hiring and directing a coaching staff, signings and cap management, and basically being the manager of a large group of professionals. How do you assess who has done the best job on a year-by-year basis when the outcome of so many of their decisions aren't evident for years?

[dustygoon]

Nill can't win given what he did with his goalies. Significant whiff.

[FanIn80]

Originally Posted by GreenLantern2814

Put me in the crowd who didn't know which team MacLellan was the GM of.

I actually thought it was Todd at first, and was like... wtf?

[landshark]

Hey, I know I'm a homer... but didn't Doug Wilson start with a non-playoff team (let's not get TOO far into details of WHY they missed last year :-), added a #1 goalie, a top4 DMAN so perfectly suited to play with Burns that Burns became in instant Norris candidate and steady, versatile Joel Ward in the off season. Plucked Donskio from obscurity and signed as a free agent (giving up no resources). Quietly added Zubris midseason to help solidify the bottom 6 and picked up a NECESSARY #6 DMAN in Polak, more depth with Spaling and a serious backup G in Reimer at the deadline.

Every move was just what the team needed and look where they are now. Am I wrong?

Jim Nill????

PS - let me add the decision to let Niemi walk - he could have been re-signed, but we got a good 4 year look at him - he wasn't going to take us to the promised land. This is a pretty brave move.

[WCW Nitro]

What makes Rutherford's moves particularly impressive was that he made them mainly through trades and most of them were player for player trades which has become kind of a lost art.

[JJ1532]

Originally Posted by landshark

Hey, I know I'm a homer... but didn't Doug Wilson start with a non-playoff team (let's not get TOO far into details of WHY they missed last year :-), added a #1 goalie, a top4 DMAN so perfectly suited to play with Burns that Burns became in instant Norris candidate and steady, versatile Joel Ward in the off season. Plucked Donskio from obscurity and signed as a free agent (giving up no resources). Quietly added Zubris midseason to help solidify the bottom 6 and picked up a NECESSARY #6 DMAN in Polak, more depth with Spaling and a serious backup G in Reimer at the deadline.

Every move was just what the team needed and look where they are now. Am I wrong?

Jim Nill????

PS - let me add the decision to let Niemi walk - he could have been re-signed, but we got a good 4 year look at him - he wasn't going to take us to the promised land. This is a pretty brave move.

Well, this is the unfortunate thing about this being voted for at the end of the regular season. Because it had to be given the candidates. 3 GMs whose sides finished 1st, 2nd and 4th in the league.

To be fair, for me the Sharks play off performances have altered the view on the job Wilson has done in my mind. Had the Sharks flopped out in round 1 to the Kings, then suddenly you've got a GM who gave up a 1st rounder for an average goaltender, gave up 2 2nd rounders for depth guys and then gave up a 4th rounder for a goaltender they arguably didn't need and all it resulted in was another 1st round loss. That happens and Thornton and Marleau are being discussed as being traded yet again, questions get asked of Wilson and the moves he made and how much he gave up in return for some pretty "meh" returns and a lot comes into question.

But the way in which the Sharks have found another level in the play offs has been impressive to watch and it has changed my perception of them. Now, those moves for Jones, Polak, Spaling, Reimer, the signing of Martin, Donskoi, Ward etc look very different than they did a month ago.