The Best & Worst in the DHL
- Updated: January 15, 2016
This is a game.
A past-time twenty-eight grown (arguably) men who love the game of hockey partake in. It shouldn’t be taken seriously. Feelings shouldn’t get hurt, people shouldn’t go on tilt or go after someone. Here’s the secret: this isn’t just a game. This is a platform where twenty-eight men wage a war of hockey knowledge, sales tactics and overall competency against eachother. We all want the cup, or No.1 overall, or accolades like the best drafting gm. So, yes this might be a game but pride and performance is very much part of it. So, don’t get offended by what you’re about to read, get motivated. I know I am.
So, after canvasing the league’s general managers there is a consensus best and worst GM’s. So, without making you wait any longer. Let’s get to it.
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The Best:
1). John Lu – San Jose Sharks
John is the GM every one of us should be idolizing. He’s won five cups and is currently the only GM to have won back to back. The word dynasty has been thrown around this league with various teams, there’s only one true dynasty – the Sharks. All is not loving for John though: “More of a knock of him as a Commish rather than a GM as his introduction of new farm rules is perfectly timed given that he will no longer be the primary violator of this rule. Also continues to enforce his Respect Rule – see any pm or board post from Mears for evidence – and recycles crappy GMs.” – Anon GM.
Comments:
Nothing but praise for John’s GMing’ ability and his hard work. John, I think collectively I speak for the league when I say – Thank you for all that you do to keep this unbelievably enjoyable and entertaining past-time running so smoothly. One of the things that always impresses me about his work with San Jose is his ability to identify skill, trade a top player when their value is at its highest, and frankly move players with pedigree out before they start to become potential busts. If you see a PM from John about a trade take three things away from it: 1). You’re not going to win the trade, stop trying. 2). The player he wants is no doubt very good 3). The player you’re getting is not as good as the first. Epitome of quality over quantity.
2). Jon Q – New York Rangers
Another GM that is known for making quality over quantity moves that are often shrewd and purposeful. Opinionated and intelligent, he’s been able to both maintain a competitive team, add to the DHL community via the forums and win a Cup.
3). Chris R. – Minnesota Wild
“Active, intelligent and a former ratings genuis.” The Ovechkin of the DHL, he could easily supersede Jon Q for second spot if he had a championship. A brilliant tactician, Chris seemingly always finds quality players via FA, trades and the draft.
4). John – St. Louis Blues
“Terrific trader, often carries the DHL offseason on his own.” Another GM that just needs a championship to be considered a top three talent. John never accepts anything but a potential championship roster. One of the most active GM’s as far as trades go. Not one to shy away from blockbusters, he’s another GM that can find talent in almost all facets of the game.
5). Adrian – Los Angeles Kings
“Always ices a competitive team and somehow maintains enough young talent to keep it sustainable.” Adrian has proven himself one of the most prolific GM’s of the DHL. But it hasn’t come without a cost. Widely liked and loathed, Adrian is mostly active during UFA and trades. Aside from Cancergate, which I’m sure soured his character around the DHL for some of his peers, he remains a respectable GM that has proven his ability to ice quality teams.
6). Mike – Boston Bruins
“An all-around good GM that’s easy to talk with” I don’t think you can question his skill as a GM, but I think you can question whether or not his true potential hasn’t been reached yet. Always in contention and a cup winner, Mike isn’t the most active GM in the DHL. It would be interesting to see what he’d be able to accomplish if he was a bit more active.
7). Andrew – Carolina Hurricanes
“Complete dick, but knows how to win.” One of the more challenging GM’s in the league to discuss trades with for two reasons. 1). He’s pretty much non-existent for as long as I can remember. 2). He love to throw quantity over quality offers that GM’s often bite one. There’s no denying he’s got talent as a GM, he’s part of the two cup club. But how long does he maintain this level of activity?
8). Chris M. – Dallas Stars
“Flies under the radar, makes solid trades, uses UFA to his advantage and always seems to compete. A DHL champion, Chris is one of those quiet in the background guys. Not overly active on the boards but will pull the trigger on trades and always tries to ice a competitive roster. He’s very similar to Boston Mike.
9). Alex – Toronto Maple Leafs
“He’s alright but he lucked out on McDavid and Eichel.” “Also includes full blown rhetoric in trade offers whereby one has to crap jerky after reading them to clear all the smoke blown up their respective ass. Odd though, as I do respect his knowledge on prospects and most players.” Ok, so how do I go about writing my own review? Well, I’ll be frank. I think a lot of you are sleeping on me. How quickly does my previous work get forgotten. As Chris said, it’s very much a case of “what have I done lately.” It seems people forget that I chose to go into a rebuild because I wanted that challenge. To the league: Yes I “lucked” into McDavid and Eichel, but so could any of the other lottery pick holders. As long as there’s a lottery, there’s going to be luck. Now that I’ve got that off my chest. Too often does he attempt to win deals rather than solely looking for the benefit of his team (cost me multiple trades over my tenure, most recently a deal that would have landed me the 5th overall pick in the draft that John lu eventually traded for). Can become impatient and sometimes make trades in haste. Can find value in trades and drafts. Oh and he’s a DHL cup champion. I will be again.
10). Nick – Philadelphia Flyers
Survey says: “Nick has done a fantastic job at turning around the Flyers and in short time” Our new stats man, former HR guy and all-around good GM. He’s like the Federer of GM’s not the best at any one thing but quickly becoming a top talent in everything. Good things coming in Philly.
Honorable Mention: Justin – Penguins / Mike – Lightning
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The Worst:
1). Steve – Nashville
“Presiding over what has to be the longest, shittiest rebuild in DHL history.” Steve was the consensus worst overall GM. “It is like he just loves being in the 10-12 range every year. He never goes for a rebuild and he never pays the price to make a big add and try to compete. The best part is that he chimes in from time to time to criticize what other GMs do in trades or UFA. Like he has the track record to talk.” – From the sounds of it, if Steve ever finds direction for his team he’ll be out of the worst list. Until that happens it seems like he’ll always be the whipping boy.
2). Pasi – Detroit Red Wings
Unable to face the hard truth, Pasi immediately resigned from his position minutes after the survey was released to the DHL. Personally, I thought Pasi would take 1st spot but I was mistaken. “Pasi destroyed Montreal. That franchise is still trying to crawl out of the mess he left it in.” “The Mike Milbury of the DHL. His Cup win didn’t elevate his status, it lowered the status of every other winner.” One of the most difficult GM’s to deal with, often at the extremes of player value he lacked consistency. Never knowing if he’d contend or rebuild or doing both in the same week he holds our 2nd worst GM title.
3). Tyler – Columbus Blue Jackets
Most criticism comes from inactivity and a lack of direction. Tyler is seen in the same light as Steve. “Make a push already.” “Seems like the effort to ice a winner hadn’t been there in a long, long time.” Who knows, his recent trade of 5th overall may be a sign to come but you have to ask if he’s really ready to put in the work to turn Columbus into a playoff team?
4). Matt – Vancouver Canucks
The GM that I not-so-subtlety mean when I say “draft simulator” is ” starting to show some success, the draft junkie approach stifled the Canucks growth potential.” Often has trade values on players as wonky as Pasi’s Matt is notorious for inactivity. He’s got some many assets that he can actually build a contender if he’d be willing. Maybe this is the turning point since, as John mentioned, he only have four picks this draft.
5). Saif – New Jersey Devils
“Dumpster diving GM that fails to make necessary moves to become a true contended. Should have been released years ago.” “It’s easy to accept the problem he had with the team he inherited and understand it was going to be a long, slow road. But sitting on them for years waiting to accumulate top prospects doesn’t exactly take a genius intellect. A good guy and a decent GM, but also a flag-waver for the worst aspects of sim/fantasy hockey – the unrealistic, low-investment, “shrug and wait” approach.” Even Saif’s apparently push into contention couldn’t save him from being listed as one of the league’s worst. Have no fear, Saif. You were so close to being out of it! The tank-haters are loving the karma that’s come to Saif. A bottom lottery team for almost eight season and never winning the lotto, Saif made a deal to help push his team into contention. However, it back fired when his 1% lotto pick ended up winning the Eichel lottery. Overall, Saif’s team is talented and should be a playoff team sooner than later.
Dishonorable Mentions:
Trevor/Rui/Johnny
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Alright guys, well there it is. This will hopefully drum up some talk.
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