Toronto Maple Leafs: Ranking All 32 NHL General Managers
By Jeff Borsuk
The 7th Ranked GM – Steve Yzerman (Red Wings)
There are very few players in the modern era who played their entire career for just one franchise. That’s especially true for someone who lasted 22 years in the NHL. That’s why it was strange to see Steve Yzerman dressed in his suit, working for a team that wasn’t the Red Wings. He spent almost nine years with the Lightning before going home to where he truly belongs, in Detroit. Yzerman joined the Red Wings as their General Manager a little more than two years ago, in April of 2019.
The Good – The vision Yzerman has in the board room may be equal to what he brought on the ice. That helped him build a reputation in Tampa as a cunning GM who appeared to be a step ahead of others. It may be too early to tell but Yzerman will look like a genius if defenseman Moritz Seider becomes the player the Red Wings think he’ll become.
Detroit drafted Seider well ahead of where most had him ranked. Yzerman used the sixth pick of the 2019 NHL Entry Draft on Seider, making him the second defender to get selected that year. It’s interesting because NHL central scouting had three European defensemen ranked ahead of Seider but Yzerman skipped them all as well as a number of higher ranked forwards in order to get his man.
Seider played this season in the Swedish Hockey League (SHL), where he helped his club, Rögle BK, make it all the way to the Finals. He was a cornerstone for the team on the back end but also provided a great deal of offense. Seider had 7 goals and 21 assists in 41 regular season games. He had a goal and four assists in 13 games in Rögle’s playoff run.
The Bad – There’s no question that Yzerman is a fan of Valtteri Filppula. In 2013, Yzerman signed him to a five-year deal in Tampa Bay worth $25M. In 2019, Yzerman did it again, this time for the Red Wings. He signed Filppula in 2019 for two years with a $3M AAV. Unlike with the Lightning, Filppula didn’t deliver. Now, 37 years old, it appeared as though Filppula’s age finally caught up with him.
The Ugly – In October of 2019, Yzerman swung a deal with the Blackhawks to acquire Brendan Perlini. The hope was that the 12th overall draft pick of the 2014 draft would look as good as he did when he played for the Coyotes. Unfortunately for the Red Wings, he didn’t. In fact, Perlini struggled last year so mightily that he didn’t even play in the NHL this season. Instead, he turned to Europe to play for Ambrì-Piotta in Switzerland.
On the other side of that deal was Alec Regula. Detroit gave up a good looking prospect who could become a regular on the Blackhawks blue line as early as next season. Regula was fantastic for the London Knights last year and looked like he was able to fit in nicely this year in the AHL playing for the Rockford Ice Hogs.