NHL Draft 2011: Power Ranking NHL GMs' Draft-Day Performances
The 2011 NHL Draft begins on June 24.
There are 30 general managers that will spend their days and nights thinking about who to take. The draft is where you draft stars find role players and come across hidden gems.
If a GM has little experience, he may be lower on the list.
Which GM has proved to be the best on draft day?
No 30: Kevin Cheveldayoff
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Cheveldayoff will be named the General Manager once Atlanta relocates to Winnipeg.
He was first given an NHL position in 2009 by the Chicago Blackhawks.
We will see how good of a draft GM he is.
No 29: Montreal Canadiens-Pierre Gauthier
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Gauthier was named the General Manager of the Canadiens in February 2010.
First round selection:
2010 - Jarred Tinordi
No 28: Chicago Blackhawks-Stan Bowman
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Bowman has been the Blackhawks General Manager since July 2009.
He is the son of Scotty Bowman.
He won a Stanley Cup in 2010 after taking over for Dale Tallon. Tallon built that team, but Bowman was the team's GM.
First round selections:
2010 - Kevin Hayes
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No 27: Tampa Bay Lightning-Steve Yzerman
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Steve Yzerman is getting ready for his second draft as the general manager of the Tampa Bay Lightning.
He selected Brett Connolly with the fifth pick last year.
It is tough to tell how a person will rate come draft day when they are relatively new to the process from a GM standpoint.
No 26: Vancouver Canucks-Mike Gillis
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Gillis was named the General Manager of the Canucks in April 2008.
His Canucks just lost in seven games to the Boston Bruins in the Stanley Cup Finals.
First round selections:
2008 - Cody Hodgson
2009 - Jordan Schroeder
Not many of his draft picks have seen the ice for the big club.
No 25: Joe Nieuwendyk
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Nieuwendyk has been the Stars GM since 2009.
First round selections:
2009 - Scott Glennie
2010 - Jack Campbell
No 24: Minnesota Wild-Chuck Fletcher
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Fletcher has been the general manager of the Wild since May 2009.
He doesn't have too much experience being a GM in the NHL. He has been the assistant GM to the Ray Shero of the Pittsburgh Penguins.
First round selections:
2009 - Nick Leddy
2010 - Mikael Granlund
No 23: Colorado Avalanche-Greg Sherman
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Sherman has been the Avalanche General Manager since June 2009.
First round selections:
2009 - Matt Duchene
2010 - Joey Hishon
No 22: Anaheim Ducks-Bob Murray
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Bob Murray has been the General Manager of the Ducks since November 2008.
Murray hasn't had many successful picks as a GM.
He has drafted Peter Holland, Kyle Palmieri, Cam Fowler and Emerson Etem in the first round in the past two years.
No 21: New York Islanders-Garth Snow
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Garth Snow was named General Manager of the New York Islanders on July 18, 2006.
He has drafted players like John Tavares, Kyle Okposo and Nino Niederreiter.
Snow is attempting to bring the Islanders back to relevance. The job is a tough one to ask anybody, but he has yet to show improvement in the club. Hopefully, the health of the Islanders will be there this season, and the team can show improvement.
No 20: Philadelphia Flyers-Paul Holmgren
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Paul Holmgren has been the General Manager of the Flyers a month into the 2006-2007 NHL season..
He has drafted James van Riemsdyk and Luca Sbisa, just to name a few.
There hasn't been many great players drafted in his tenure.
No 19: Columbus Blue Jackets-Scott Howson
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Howson was named general manager of the Blue Jackets in June 2007.
He hasn't had much experience as a GM in the National Hockey League.
First round picks since June 2007:
2007 - Jakub Voracek
2008 - Nikita Filatov
2009 - John Moore
2010 - Ryan Johansen
No 18: Edmonton Oilers-Steve Tambellini
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Tambellini has been the general manager of the Oilers since July 2008.
He selected Taylor Hall with the first selection in the 2010 NHL Draft last year. This time around, he will have the first pick again. Ryan Nugent-Hopkins could be their choice.
In 2009, the Oilers selected Magnus Paajarvi-Svensson with the 10th overall pick.
No 17: Phoenix Coyotes-Don Maloney
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Maloney has been the General Manager of the Coyotes since May 2007.
He served as the New York Islanders GM from 1992 to 1995.
In 2010, Maloney was named the NHL's General Manager of the year.
He has two first round selections in 2010: Brandon Gormley and Mark Visentin.
No 16: Boston Bruins-Peter Chiarelli
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Chiarelli was hired to be the General Manager of the Boston Bruins in May 2006.
The Bruins just won their first Stanley Cup since 1972.
First round selections:
2006 - Phil Kessel
2007 - Zach Hamill
2008 - Joe Colborne
2009 - Jordan Caron
2010 - Tyler Seguin
No 15: Ottawa Senators-Bryan Murray
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Murray has been the Senators General Manager since 2007.
He was the Anaheim Ducks GM from 2002 to 2004.
First round selections:
2008 - Erik Karlsson
2009 - Jared Cowen
No 14: Florida Panthers-Dale Tallon
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Dale Tallon was named the Florida Panthers General Manager in May 2010.
He brought the Chicago Blackhawks back to relevance by drafting players like Jonathan Toews and Patrick Kane.
His name was engraved into the Stanley Cup with the Chicago Blackhawks.
No 13: Calgary Flames-Jay Feaster
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Feaster has been the permanent General Manager of the Flames since May 2011. He was the acting GM after Darryl Sutter's' resignation in December 2010.
He was the GM of the Lightning from 2002 to 2008.
The Lightning won the Stanley Cup in the 2003-2004 season.
No 12: Carolina Hurricanes-Jim Rutherford
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Rutherford has been the Hurricanes General Manager since 1994.
In 2006, his Hurricanes won the Stanley Cup.
He drafted Eric Staal, Cam Ward and Andrew Ladd, just to name a few.
Draft steals:
1998 - third round, 71st selection - Erik Cole
No 11: Pittsburgh Penguins-Ray Shero
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Ray Shero came on board in 2006 for the Pittsburgh Penguins.
He is a pretty good draft GM but has done great with his free agency signings and trades. He doesn't bring over the biggest names but players that fit the system of the organization.
Shero drafted guys like Jordan Staal, Dustin Jeffrey and Luca Caputi.
Trading away draft picks for quality players that fit the mold of the team is what Shero does better than most GMs.
No 10: Los Angeles Kings-Dean Lombardi
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Lombardi has been the Kings General Manager since April 2006.
He has been a major reason why the Kings have been in the playoffs or barely out recently.
Draft steals:
2007 - second round, 61st selection - Wayne Simmonds
2009 - second round, 35th selection - Kyle Clifford
No 9: Toronto Maple Leafs-Brian Burke
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Brian Burke was named the general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs in 2008.
He won a Stanley Cup in Anaheim in 2006-2007 in his second year at the helm.
Burke brought the Sedin twins to Vancouver in 1999 and Ryan Kesler in 2003.
Draft steals:
1998 - third round, 68th selection - Jarkko Ruutu
2001 - fifth round, 151st selection - Kevin Bieksa
No 8: St. Louis Blues-Doug Armstrong
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Armstrong took over the St. Louis Blues General Manager job in May 2008.
He was the GM of the Stars from 2002 to 2007.
Draft steals:
2002 - second round, 43rd pick - Trevor Daley
2003 - second round, 33rd pick - Loui Eriksson
2004 - second round, 56th pick - Nicklas Grossman
2005 - second round, 33rd pick - James Neal
No 7: San Jose Sharks-Doug Wilson
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Wilson has been the General Manager of the Sharks since May 2003.
He has created some great regular season teams in San Jose. The Sharks haven't been able to break through in the postseason.
Draft steals:
2003 - second round, 47th pick - Matt Carle
2003 - seventh round, 205th pick - Joe Pavelski
2005 - second round, 35th pick - Marc-Edouard Vlasic
No 6: Nashville Predators-David Poile
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Poile has been the Predators GM since 1997.
He was the Washington Capitals GM for about 15 seasons. The Capitals had their moments during his 15-year tenure.
Nashville has been a team that is usually seen in the postseason.
No 5: Washington Capitals-George McPhee
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McPhee has been the Capitals general manager since 1997.
He was the engineer of the Capitals 1997 Stanley Cup Finals run.
His draft skills have been great in the first round of the draft. Currently, most of the Capitals core has been drafted by McPhee in the first rounds.
Draft steals:
2000 - second pick, 43rd selection - Matt Pettinger
No 4: Buffalo Sabres-Darcy Regier
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Darcy Regier has been the Buffalo Sabres General Manager since June 1997.
One year after being named General Manager, Regier and the Sabres made to the Stanley Cup Finals.
Regier has drafted important players like Maxim Afinogenov, Ryan Miller, Brian Campbell, Thomas Vanek, Derek Roy and Jason Pominville, just to name a few.
Draft steals:
1997 - third round, 69th selection - Maxim Afinogenov
1997 - sixth round, 156th selection - Brian Campbell
1999 - fifth round, 138th selection - Ryan Miller
2000 - seventh round, 220th selection - Paul Gaustad
No 3: New Jersey Devils-Lou Lamoriello
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Lou Lamoriello became the General Manager of the Devils in 1987.
He has been the general manager of three Stanley Cups.
Lamoriello has drafted players like Bill Guerin, Scott Niedermayer and Brian Rolston, just to name a few.
Draft steals:
1998 - third round, 82nd selection - Brian Gionta
2000 - second round, 62nd selection - Paul Martin
2000 - third round, 76th selection - Mike Rupp
No: 2 New York Rangers-Glen Sather
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Sather has been the General Manager of the New York Rangers since 2000.
Draft steals:
2001 - second round, 40th selection - Fedor Tyutin
2001 - eighth round, 238th selection - Ryan Hollweg
2002 - eighth round, 240th selection - Petr Prucha
2003 - fifth round, 149th selection - Nigel Dawes
2004 - second round, 60th selection - Brandon Dubinsky
2004 - fourth round, 127 selection - Ryan Callahan
No 1: Detroit Red Wings-Ken Holland
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Holland has been the Red Wings General Manager since 1997. Since that time, no other NHL team has won more playoff and regular season games (560) than the Detroit Red Wings.
They have also won the Central Division eight times, the Presidents' Trophy four times and the Stanley Cup three times in his tenure.
All of the success the Red Wings have had comes mostly through their outstanding drafts.
Draft steals:
1998 - sixth round, pick 171 - Pavel Datsyuk
1999 - seventh round, pick 210 - Henrik Zetterberg
2004 - third round, pick 97 - Johan Franzen
These three players are just naming a few draft steals by Holland and the Red Wings scouting department.
Role players like Valtteri Filppula, Jiri Hudler and Darren Helm were also drafted in the later rounds. The list goes on and on.
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