Michael Stuart: Introducing the General Manager Bracket Battle

Well this is going to be a cluster(frank) of ignorance

Well this is going to be a cluster(frank) of ignorance
- Udogs

Isn't that half the fun?

Anyone voting for Stevie Y hasn't been paying attention. He gave out NTC/NMC contracts like candy on Halloween and now Tampa is in cap hell. Despite all of the team success, they NEVER won the Cup while he was GM, instead suffering multiple upsets in the playoffs.

Yzerman. Sweeney isn't bad either, def a top GM. 2016 draft though...

Isn't that half the fun?

Might be a conservative estimation

Anyone voting for Stevie Y hasn't been paying attention. He gave out NTC/NMC contracts like candy on Halloween and now Tampa is in cap hell. Despite all of the team success, they NEVER won the Cup while he was GM, instead suffering multiple upsets in the playoffs.
- TommyGTrain

So your saying Tampa has done better without him? Tampa finally got some grit for the playoffs, Stevie wanted to add some grit years back but they pulled the plug on him, front office said team didn’t need to that they were ready. Well they are still chasing but with a little grit this time. Goaltending has been great but if they run into NYI, Tampa will have there hands full.

I think the biggest thing Yzerman has going for him is respect. And the best thing about what he did in Tampa was bring a new culture that emulated his glory days in Detroit. The whole attitude in Tampa started to turn around the minute it was announced he was going to be GM. Suddenly all eyes were on Tampa.

It's not a secret that he already had Stamkos and Hedman to build on. That's definitely an advantage. And, he also had Al Murrary running his scouting. Having a deep-pocketed and smart owner also helped. Vinik is leagues above a lot of owners and that freed up Yzerman to run the team as he saw fit without budget restrictions.

Cap hell is overrated. It's a great problem to have if you have elite players and results to show for it. Tampa has elite players and several deep playoff runs. They were a broken wrist and a groin injury away from winning the Cup in 2015. But one won't be able to judge the results positively until there is a Cup to show for it. President's Trophy doesn't mean jack.

Tampa's cap situation is not nearly as dire as it seems at first glance. There are some free agents that are going to walk and some youngsters coming in on cheap contracts. Somebody will have to get traded (maybe one or more of : Killorn, Johnson, Palat, Gourde) - no trade clauses will complicate things, but nothing is impossible. Bridge contracts will be signed to kick some of the can down the road a bit. Lather rinse repeat. Tampa has a history of managing their complicated cap and I would expect that to continue.

Yzerman made some questionable decisions during his tenure in Tampa, but overall his influence was very positive and it built the culture of professionalism that makes Tampa a desired free agent destination. And a side benefit of that is - competing teams hoping to throw offer sheets at Tampa's vulnerable players are in for an uphill climb getting anyone to sign.

Yzerman. Sweeney isn't bad either, def a top GM. 2016 draft though...
- DutchSenators

2015 draft... 13. Zboril, 14. DeBrusk, and 15. Senyshyn could have been 16. Barzal, 17. Connor, and 18. Chabot. And by most accounts they went off the board to pick 2/3 of those guys... just image for a minute how dangerous a team the Bruins would have been with even 1 or 2 of those 3 players added to their existing roster.

That alone loses you the contest... let alone that Yzerman managed to set the Lightning up with all of Kucherov, Stamkos, Point, Hedman, McDonagh, and Vasilevsky making no more than $9.5M/yr. Now I'll agree that there are far too many 2nd/3rd line guys with term and NTC, but right now they have to be considered Cup front-runners. And if they do win, most of the credit will be directly attributable to Yzerman's build.