Front office rankings

[newfcollins]

THN did a survey of fans to see who fans think has the best management. They're ranked in order of least confidence to most.

Fans were asked to give a grade based on roster building, cap management, draft/development, trading, free agency and vision. It's also broken down into public opinion versus the team's actual fan base.

Colorado ranks last, Nashville is first.

Some surprises: Tampa is third. Carolina is fifth. Both seem high to me.

Edmonton is only 15th. Buffalo 20th. I thought they would be higher.

Montreal is 28th. That's really sad, but probably on point with how Habs fans have been feeling the past year.

http://www.thehockeynews.com/news/ar...-team-is-doing

[Axeman33]

I think the bottom four are spot on. All four (COL, VAN, DET, and MON) have been inept for some time. Until Vancouver bites the bullet on a full rebuild (they are trying but all those NMC/NTC's are killing them) they are going to struggle. I am surprised the Bruins aren't in the bottom group but that's just me I guess.

I thought the Islanders were a bit low at 27th. Snow has made some bad moves but what GM hasn't. He's really improved over the years to me. Sure he still makes some stinkers but he has made some pretty good deals too.

[Daydream Nation]

Very creative article. I enjoyed looking at the difference between the team fans' opinion versus the public's opinion of the team front office and how it has changed over the year.

I definitely agree with Nashville being #1. Poile has that team in great shape.

[dejeanneret]

An interesting read, but measuring a thing like how's the front office doing over a 1 year period seems flawed to me, and several categories are oddly overlapping.

Take the Kings for example.

The criticism there is the cap situation. But that's a natural consequence of the maneuvering that brought them 2 Cups in a handful of years. Everyone knew the cap trouble was looming. But it's a conscious choice the front office made. And I'd argue that it paid off -- handsomely.

Maybe it's fair to criticize them for a failure of vision for how to get past that as quickly as possible. But that situation could drag down the rankings in a number of categories -- cap situation, vision, roster building, free agency.

But writing off those Cup wins as a distant memory seems unfair, as does belting the front office across all categories because they're now paying the piper for the course they consciously charted to win the franchise's first two Cups. I thnink there are a number of fan bases that would gladly take some lean years for a period where the team is a perennial contender and earns two parades.

[newfcollins]

It isn't based on one year. It was up to each individual person to determine their own timeline.

The Kings for example. Sure they won two Cups. But they didn't need to re-sign Gaborik for such much money long-term. They could have just let him walk.

[FinnishFlash]

Interesting read. Totally agree with the bottom.

I'd have Florida and Chicago a little higher, but good list. No doubt that Nashville is #1. I really think they will have a cup or two in the next few years.

[als_revenge]

while I understand why avalanche fans would be done on that team, I really can't see how you can rank them 30th in drafting/developing and 26th in cap management. It seems like bads teams are being overly punished in some areas, and good teams are being over rewarded in other areas. Arizona at 14th in drafting and developing also seems really low to me.

[keytolife]

I am somewhat suprised my Panthers are not #31 on this list.

[Daydream Nation]

Ideally, you take this study and turn it into 3 articles and go into a lot more detail about each team. A rolling 3-year window for each team would give a more accurate look at each team.

[Pengwin7]

I like the "public opinion" placements, but some of the (fickle) "fan base" numbers skew this, IMO.
Arizona, Dallas, Carolina, New Jersey are way too high -IMO- and those are also the ones where the fans skew them up.
I thought Minnesota & San Jose & Detroit were too low... and (I guess, not surprisingly) those are skewed down by fan disappointment. (And I mean, Wild fans are upset in the overpayment on Hanzal/White that ended up just being a first round exit, SJ expected more I guess after previous year run, Detroit fans are way to quick to be disappointed about bottoming out after 25 really great years).

I think the public opinion (red dot) numbers are pretty solid.
I still think Detroit has done a decent job... if you are going to fall, fall hard... which they've done... though their D pipeline is sad, worst in NHL?

Overall, pretty solid list.
There's really not a lot to argue.
I do think fans/public needs to take "luck" out... so how good are TOR, NJ, EDM, PHI, BUF... teams like that if they hadn't gotten their lottery picks.

Oh - and I will say that I think Carolina is getting WAY too much love.
Beyond Slavin & J.Staal, I'm not a fan of their defense (including Faulk).
They had a nice year last year, but I won't be surprised if they finish 3rd last in the East.
Look at every other team in the East though... they could all finish above Carolina. My 2 cents.

(Detroit & Jersey are still sure-bets, IMO, for bottom two.)