The Toronto Maple Leafs have got a great general manager.
Toronto Maple Leafs GM Kyle Dubas has only been on the job for one year, and in that year he locked up two of the Leafs “big three,” and was the only NHL general manager in the last year to add a #1 C and a #1 D to his roster.
Safe to say that, outside of a few critics who resist analytics, his tenure as the Leafs GM has been 100% successful.
Sure, the team has it’s problems, and no one is perfect, but nothing he’s done wrong to this point could amount to anything more than a quibble.
You can’t say the same thing about most of the rest of the NHL.
I am often told, when someone doesn’t like something I’ve written, that “it’s a good think I’m not the GM.”
I used to agree.
But after this last week, I think basically anyone could do that job.
You Too Could be a GM
Apparently unaware that the NHL is a “strong link” game (i.e that star power is more important than a balanced team) the Winnipeg Jets just sent #1 defenseman Jacob Trouba to the Rangers for a 22nd overall pick and a replacement player.
This is easily the worst trade in the NHL since the Taylor Hall trade, and it’s an indefensible move by the Jets GM Kevin Cheveldayoff.
And that wasn’t the only horrible move an NHL team committed this weak.
For inexplicable reasons, the Flyers ate salary to move the younger and better Radko Gudas to the Capitals in exchange for Matt Niskanen.
Why?
To make matters worse, they bought out Andrew MacDonald – who had better stats last year than Niskanen did. Arguably, the Flyers spent money and moved two players to get one player, who is the worst out of all three.
Why?
The Dallas Stars re-signed Roman Polak.
There is so much evidence that shows that Roman Polak hurts your team and could literally be replaced by any random farm or jungle animal without a loss of quality to your team.
I’ll let the Sabres and Sharks off the hook for the insane contracts they handed out recently, because at least those contracts were to talented players. If you’re going to overpay, make sure it’s an elite player you overpay.
Recently, Lou Lamoriello continued his amazing streak of incomprehensible moves by signing Brock Nelson and Jordan Eberle to preposterous contract extensions.
This morning the Flyers signed Kevin Hayes to a laughable deal.
It’s all tons of fun, but the best part is knowing that if you have a pulse and can speak in somewhat coherent sentences when you talk, you could be an NHL general manager.