In the NHL, you usually get a five-year window as a general manager to form your vision for the team, and after that, if it’s still looking grim, you’re out. We’ve seen instances where some GM’s have some survived much, much, longer somehow, some currently still in the front office right now. Here are five managers I think could be facing potential firing.
Chuck Fletcher – Philadelphia Flyers
I don’t think I need to analyze much for you to know that Chuck Fletcher shouldn’t be the GM in Philadelphia anymore, but I’ll do it anyways.
Fletcher is undoubtedly the worst manager in hockey right now, constantly making Philadelphia worse even though his vision for this team is to be competitive, somehow, in the beast that is the east.
Just to highlight a few of the rough moves in Fletcher’s tenure, including trading for, and extending, Rasmus Ristolainen, which was just a terrible decision both times. The acquisition of Tony DeAngelo wasn’t as bad as that, but it certainly didn’t make sense either to trade a high pick for a defenseman that isn’t going to turn your franchise around after you were already one of the worst teams in the NHL. Oh yeah, they also missed out on Johnny Gaudreau because of the fact that they didn’t have enough cap space to afford him. Yeah, one of the worst teams in the league are cap strapped…
I expect Fletcher to be fired soon, it’s just a matter of when at this point.
Lou Lamoriello – New York Islanders
I think it’s time for Lou Lamoriello to take a nice long vacation to the Bahamas or something. He’s getting olddddd and so are the Islanders, last season proved that he’s probably taken them as far as he can with his roster building and asset management, so it might be time for a fresh voice in the GM role.
I wouldn’t be surprised if instead of being fired, the Islanders offered Lou a role in upper-management out of respect for him. However, I think this season is likely the last we’ll see for Lamoriello in New York.
He had a great career despite the amount of hate he gets at this point, the game has just changed a lot since he first came into the league.
Kevin Cheveldayoff – Winnipeg Jets
Listen, I get it, it’s hard to be the general manager for the most undesirable market in hockey. Basically no athlete worth millions of dollars wants to willingly play in Manitoba, but at the end of the day you need to find a way to build a competitive team, and for most of his tenure in Winnipeg, Kevin Cheveldayoff hasn’t been able to do this.
Cheveldayoff has been the only GM in Winnipeg since they relocated there from Atlanta in 2012, and since then, he’s missed the playoffs more times than he has playoff series wins. I don’t think I’ve seen a GM have a longer leash than that.
Ultimately, I’m expecting Cheveldayoff to ride out this year in Winnipeg, and after another mediocre result, he’ll probably be gone. He’ll definitely be back in a front office again someday, though.
Dave Poile/Jim Nill – Nashville/Dallas
I grouped these two together because I think they’re both in a very similar position. Poile and Nill are two well respected management leaders in their organizations, and I don’t think either one will be fired, but will be elevated to a higher role in the organization at the end of this season, allowing a fresh new voice to take over as GM.
Their current teams have been stuck in mediocrity for some time now and I think a fresher voice could help.
Kyle Dubas – Toronto Maple Leafs
Now let me start off by saying I don’t think Kyle Dubas deserves to be in the hot seat. But, it’s hard not to put him there when your team hasn’t won a series since he took over, despite being one of the best in the league through the last few seasons.
The spotlight is bright in the 6ix and all eyes will be on Dubas’ roster to see if he can finally get them over the hump. If the team can win a round I think he stays, but if they once again fail in Toronto fashion, he could be done.