Building a Stanley Cup competition starts at the top. Ownership may not build the schedule, but a general director (GM) does. Bill Zito’s work with the Florida Panthers changed a franchise that was a clou in a Juggernaut, a destination and a dynasty in the making.
Related: What has really changed after the Summer Shakeup of Maple Leafs?
However, arranging a GM is all about perception compared to results. In this piece, several contributors from the hockey writers (THW) have added their insight to help determine who is the most overrated GM that is on their way this season.
5. Chris Drury, New York Rangers
The general perception of New York Rangers GM Chris Drury is that he did well after being hired in a great situation. However, he has made many doubtful movements, and now he is in the hot chair. The Rangers will start this season with an aging schedule. They are desperate to return to the play -offs, but are not talented enough to do this, largely because of Drury.
Drory’s biggest mistakes were to accept his coaching. When Gerard Gallant was hired in June 2021, he was expected to take the team to the next level, but two seasons later nothing had changed and he was fired. The same happened with Peter Laviolette, who was hired in June 2023. He brought the Rangers to the Eastern Conference final in 2024, but the following season he lost his grip in the team and they fell apart, which resulted in his resignation.
Drury Mike Sullivan hired This season outside the season with hope that he will turn things around, but with an exhausted agricultural system and minimal depth it will be a long task. Another difficult season will call in the public (and ownership) the GM.
4. Ken Holland, La Kings
Ken Holland is known as a smart, experienced GM that can build cup competitions. When The Los Angeles Kings hired himThe feeling was that he would make them the best team in the Western Conference, or at least beat the Edmonton Oilers in the first round of the play -offs (like a former Oilers GM, he should know how to beat them).
Now in his first low season in Los Angeles, fans are already seeing the disadvantage of his style. He drew several veterans who will not move the needle or turn the Kings into a cup-caliber team. Some would claim that the aging skaters he brought in could make the team worse.
Holland is best known for his success with the Detroit Red Wings (where he won four championships between 1997 and 2019), but his run with the oilers was overwhelming. Teams still hire him, in the hope that he will make them great, but only because he won the cup two decades ago does not mean that he goes back the clock and will build a team that can now win.
3. Brad Treliving, Toronto Maple Leafs
Brad Treliving is seen as one of the best GMs in the NHL. He builds contenders based on strong defense that play a physical brand and prepares for the play -offs. The problem is that the teams of Treliving make the play -offs, but do not go on deep runs.
When he was with the Calgary Flames, they were a good team but never great. Now that he is at the Toronto Maple Leafs, he has set them up to be successful and to hire Craig Berube as a head coach, the team has a brand hockey that is better suited for the play -offs. Yet there is a big problem with the way Treliving manages it.
He lets his stars run. That became a turning point of his term of office with the flames, especially in the low season of 2022, when Johnny Gaudreau left in a free desk and Matthew Tkachuk demanded a profession. With the Esdoornblad, Mitch Marner left in the low seasonWhen early signs indicated that he would stay in Toronto. This will be counterproductive at some point, especially if the Maple Leafs are exhausted from Star Power Down the Road.
2. Kyle Dubas, Pittsburgh Penguins
The perception of Kyle Dubas is that he has done great work to set up the Pittsburgh Penguins for a rebuilding. The first problem with Dubas, however, is that the Penguins are perhaps the worst team in the NHL, that when GM started under his watch.
Then there is his time with the Maple Leafs, when he got the keys to build them in a competition. Dubas, who was a young and unproven GM, received a big core to work with, but left the Maple Leafs in a cycle of play-off in the first round.
At the time, Dubas is seen as a wunderkind That is progressive and the rest of the competition is too smart, but it has made him a lightning rod for criticism, especially as an analysis-driven director who does not have a great sense of the game. Whether that is true or not, it has made him a GM that can be overestimated quickly.
1. Steve Yzerman, Detroit Red Wings
The Yzerplan Has received a lot of heat to be short. Steve Yzerman was hired to turn the Red Wings into a Juggernaut in 2019. But still, while he enters his sixth season as GM, they remain a middle team of the pack, while other reconstruction teams have passed them on.
It is easy to see Yzerman as the savior. After all, he turned the Tampa Bay Lightning into a model ranchise during his term of office as their GM. However, lightning never came to the finish line with Yzerman. He built a great team, but his successor, Julien Brisebois, got them over the bump (and should get more credit for it).
Yzerman has not built the schedule of the Red Wings. He has added many good players, but not an elite talent that can bring them to the play -off conversation. Not to mention the goal of the team. The hope is that he finally found his starter in John Gibson, after he had gone for a list for longer than a CFS reception.
It is also about finding the right staff, especially the right head coach, to get the most out of the group. Yzerman was patient, perhaps too patient, with Jeff Blashill. When he finally got the chance to hire someone, what he did in the low season of 2022, he brought Derek Lalonde, only to dismiss him two and a half seasons later. The Todd McLellan rent Maybe training, but early on it also seems like an overwhelming movement.
This is all the reason why two things happened to Yzerman. The public perception has changed and the pressure is on. The red wings are going into this season with a sense of urgency to make the play -offs, where their GM is the most desperate of all.
Other overrated NHL General managers
Jim Rutherford is not a GM, but he runs the Vancouver Canucks and his legacy has overshadowed the mediocre job he did with the team. The Canucks come from a disastrous season and are with their fourth head coach during his term of office, which means that it might not be the person behind the bank to blame just one PlayOFF in five seasons.
Kevyn Adams would also be an overrated GM if the audience had not hired him yet. In the beginning it seemed that his rebuilding had a promise, but his mismanagement of assets still has the Buffalo Sabres on the outside of the play -off photo, which extended the longest drought in the history of the NHL.
Kyle Davidson had a great run that has the rebuilding for the Chicago Blackhawks, but his next movements have him on the shooting line. Davidson could be under a lot of pressure if the Blackhawks stay one of the worst teams in the NHL without much progress (which will be a theme from the past seasons).
Which GM do you think is overestimated? Let us know in the commentary section below.
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