NHL GM of the Year Award Finalists: MacLellan vs. Nill vs. Rutherford
The NHL announced Wednesday that Brian MacLellan of the Washington Capitals, Jim Nill of the Dallas Stars and Jim Rutherford of the Pittsburgh Penguins are finalists for the NHL General Manager of the Year Award.
Voting for this award was conducted among the 30 NHL general managers and a panel of NHL executives, print and broadcast media at the conclusion of the second-round of the playoffs
So which one of these guys will win the NHL General Manager of the Year Award.
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Why Brian MacLellan Deserves The Award
From the NHL:
MacLellan assembled a roster that was a runaway winner of the 2015-16 Presidents’ Trophy as the NHL’s top regular-season club (56-18-8, 120 points). The Capitals’ 56 victories set a franchise record and made them just the 10th team in League history to collect as many wins in one season – and the first to do so since the 2005-06 Detroit Red Wings (58). Their 120 points fell one shy of the team high set in 2009-10 (121). After signing free-agent defensemen Matt Niskanen and Brooks Orpik in 2014, MacLellan acquired a pair of key forwards last summer, signing Justin Williams and trading for T.J. Oshie. The Capitals ranked second in both team offense (3.02 goals/GP) and defense (2.33 GA/GP) in 2015-16.
The players MacLellan acquired last offseason all worked out for the Capitals. T.J. Oshie had a solid first year in Washington with a career-high 26 goals. He fit seamlessly on the Caps’ first line with Nicklas Backstrom and Alex Ovechkin.
Justin Williams added a savvy veteran presence with 22 goals and his best year since 2011-12. Last summer, MacLellan also re-signed goaltender Braden Holtby to a contract that will keep him in Washington through the 2019-20 NHL season.
The Capitals lost in six games to the Pittsburgh Penguins in the second-round of the playoffs, which takes some of the shine of MacLellan’s year. MacLellan will have his work cut out for him next summer when he’ll need to give Evgeny Kuznetsov ($3 million per-year) a raise. He’ll also have to try to figure out what to do with 35-year-old defenseman Brooks Orpik who’s $5.5 million per-year salary has three years left.
Why Jim Nill Deserves The Award
From the NHL:
The Stars qualified for the Stanley Cup Playoffs for the second time in Nill’s three seasons at the helm after missing the postseason for five consecutive years prior to his arrival in April 2013. Strengthened by offseason acquisitions including forward Patrick Sharp, defenseman Johnny Oduya and goaltender Antti Niemi and guided behind the bench by early Nill hire Lindy Ruff, the Stars (50-23-9, 109 points) posted their best season in years. They won their first Western Conference title since 2002-03, first division crown since 2005-06, reached the 50-win milestone for just the fourth time in franchise history and first time since 2006-07, and won their first playoff series since 2007-08.
Since he was hired three years ago, Nill hasn’t really used convention with building the Stars, but his moves have played a role in helping them to their first division championship since 2005-06.
As the NHL has shifted more towards defense, he’s built this group around offense and saw them lead the NHL in goals per-game at 3.23. While most teams use one undisputed starting goaltender, he’s lavished two No. 1 goaltenders with contracts and saw coach Lindy Ruff use them both in the playoffs.
During the postseason the two-goaltender system didn’t work out well with the team exiting in the second-round to the St. Louis Blues, but the Stars believed both Antti Niemi and Kari Lehtonen were able to lessen the burden of back-to-backs on each other during the regular season and help the team get the most points in the Western Conference.
Why Jim Rutherford Deserves The Award
From the NHL:
Rutherford’s retooled roster and midseason coaching change spurred the Penguins (48-26-8, 104 points) to a sizzling regular-season finish and a playoff run that has carried them to the Eastern Conference Final. In his second season in charge, Rutherford used the trade and free-agent markets to add veteran forwards Nick Bonino, Matt Cullen, Eric Fehr and Phil Kessel over the summer plus forward Carl Hagelin and defenseman Trevor Daley during the campaign. The club surged when he hired Mike Sullivan, who went 33-16-5 after taking over as head coach onDec. 12, highlighted by a 14-2-0 record in Pittsburgh’s final 16 games of the regular season.
Pretty much all the major decisions Rutherford made for this year worked out. The decision to fire Mike Johnston and promote Mike Sullivan helped shift the season for the Penguins.
According to War on Ice, Pittsburgh held a 54.9 CF% 5-on-5 after the Sullivan hire. Before then they were at 48.4 percent. The change also jumpstarted Sidney Crosby’s game, and the forward had 66 points in 52 games after the switch.
Nick Bonino, who Rutherford acquired last summer, scored the game-winning goal to eliminate the Capitals and Phil Kessel’s line, with Bonino and Carl Hagelin, has given the Penguins more scoring depth.
Trevor Daley was also solid midseason pickups by Rutherford.
Who wins the NHL General Manager of the Year Award?
Rutherford. Out of all the finalists, his team is the only one left in the playoffs. Also, it’s hard to find a move he made for this season that didn’t work out.
Who should win the NHL General Manager of the Year Award?
Rutherford. His team went the furthest in the postseason and he finally seems to have found the right mix of grit and skill with the Penguins organization.
MacLellan should be praised for building a regular season juggernaut and Nill should be lauded for thinking outside the box, but they didn’t go far enough in the playoffs.
A lot of this award revolves revisionist history, and Sean McIndoe explained this in a recent article.
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Josh Cooper is an editor for Puck Daddy on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @joshuacooper
