Toronto Maple Leafs: Ranking All 32 NHL General Managers
By Jeff Borsuk
The 6th Ranked GM – Bill Zito (Florida Panthers)
Bill Zito spent 2013-2020 as an executive with the Blue Jackets. There was a strong belief in Columbus that Zito would eventually become their general manager. Instead, the Florida Panthers poached him for themselves. It’s still early days for Zito who has only just begun to make his mark in Florida.
Zito’s transactions have been well regarded around the league. So much so that he was a finalist for this year’s GM of the Year Award.
The Good – Zito recognized that big changes were needed in Florida and wasted no time making them. He swung a deal to ship out Mike Matheson and Colton Sceviour for Patric Hornqvist. This deal didn’t just get a bad contract out of Florida but it also added grit to the roster.
Along with Anthony Duclair, who Zito signed to a one-year $1.7M deal, He also brought in Alexander Wennberg, Vinnie Hinostroza, Carter Verhaeghe, Radko Gudas, and Markus Nutivaara before the start of the season.
Though most fans won’t know his name, Zito also signed prospect Logan Hutsko, someone who has fought injury in college but has giant potential. Hutsko was drafted by the Panthers but didn’t sign right away. It was actually Zito that had him put pen to paper. Time will tell how that development goes.
The Bad – Zito and the Panthers lost two effective players in free agency Evgenii Dadonov and Mike Hoffman. To be fair to Zito, those losses can be hung on the former GM, Dale Tallon for not negotiating an extension or moving them prior to season’s end. However, it was still Zito who was at the helm when Dadonov signed with the Senators and when Hoffman signed with the St. Louis Blues.