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Who should win the GM of the Year? |
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Follow me on Twitter @ToddCordell
Doug Armstrong (Blues), Don Sweeney (Bruins), and Don Waddell (Hurricanes) were recently announced as the finalists for GM of the Year. In this edition of the hotstove, we share our thoughts on who should win the award.
Todd Cordell
I don't love Doug Armstrong's case because he entered the season with extreme question marks in goal, which looked like they'd sink the team, and the unexpected emergence of Jordan Binnington ended up bailing the Blues out.
I think Sweeney and Waddell have better cases and I'll give the edge to the former.
He bought low on Jaroslav Halak and that proved to be a spectacular move. Halak posted a .922SV% in a season where goaltending numbers were down league-wide. He also took a ton of the workload off of Tuukka Rask, which helped keep him fresh and ready to go for the playoffs. Safe to say that has worked out.
Sweeney also landed Marcus Johansson, who has been a solid middle-6 scorer for the Bruins. Meanwhile, his other notable addition up front, Charlie Coyle, sits 4th on the team in playoff goals (behind the big three) and 5th in points.
I did not like the John Moore signing at the time – and I still don't – but basically every other move has worked out as well as possible and the Bruins are four wins away from another Stanley Cup as a result.
James Tanner
The GM of the year makes no sense. Tampa was the best team by far so Steve Yzerman would be a good choice. Kyle Dubas was the only GM to acquire a #1 Centre (Tavares) and a #1 defenseman (Muzzin), so he's a good choice. Any other choice is not just wrong, but random and unexplainable. Flip a coin between Yzerman and Dubas. No one else even comes within five miles.
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