NHL: Ranking Each Team’s General Manager

Marc Bergevin immediately gets points deducted because the Montreal Canadiens are still following their outdated “must speak French” requirement for their head coaches. Habs fans will point out the team has generally been very competitive under Bergevin. And they’re right. But Bergevin’s moves lately have been awful.

No matter what you think of the P.K. Subban for Shea Weber trade, the Canadiens gave up a younger, more skilled defenseman for an older one. While Weber is still very good, it’s reasonable to question how much longer this will remain true. I’ll defend the Jonathan Drouin trade until the day I die, but giving up Mikhail Sergachev, the only other playmaking blue liner in the system, really hurts.

The Canadiens have about a two-year window to win a Stanley Cup. Bergevin sure isn’t acting like it, other than the inevitable Carey Price extension.

Jarmo Kekalainen of the Columbus Blue Jackets is an interesting guy to judge. Like many NHL general mangers, he has had his good moves and bad moves. But perhaps no one is more split down the middle in this category than Kekalainen. So let’s take a look at both sides.

Under “good moves”, Kekalainen has the Ryan Johansen for Seth Jones trade (and the latter’s subsequent extension). This is a rare trade which gave both teams precisely what they needed. Jones is a first pairing defenseman and looks to be a huge part of their team for years to come. Drafting Zach Werenski turned out to be a huge win (but let’s remember the scouts probably deserve more credit than Kekalainen).

Hiring John Tortorella (so far) has been a pretty big win. Fans of the Rangers and Canucks will remind everyone Torts looked good at first for their respective teams as well, but wound up being bad. Sergei Bobrovsky probably should have gotten a longer extension, but so far, so good.

Now his bad moves. Nathan Horton for David Clarkson was a terrible move. Jack Johnson’s contract looks awful (though at least there’s only a year left). Trading for Brandon Saad just to trade him again is weird. Jarmo has done more good than bad, but the bad is still pretty bad.

Ray Shero has been pretty darn good for the New Jersey Devils so far. During his tenure, they have drastically improved their skill, acquiring Kyle Palmieri, Taylor Hall and Marcus Johansson via trade. And Shero gave up a total of two second round picks, two third round picks and Adam Larsson to get them.

But here’s the problem. Shero has yet to address a blue line in desperate need of some help. Before Oilers fans start talking about Larsson, this was an issue even before the Hall trade. Losing out on Kevin Shattenkirk this offseason really hurt them. Shero needs to find a way to upgrade the blue line more than by adding one young defenseman.